


Broken

by ElProfesor



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drunk Sergio, F/M, Fluff, History Teacher, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, serquel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 28,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24145297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElProfesor/pseuds/ElProfesor
Summary: Paula was acting off lately. Her history teacher noticed. But when he asked her what was wrong, he wasn't expecting that her mother, who turned out to be absolutely gorgeous, was being abused. And on top off all, his friends from the past returned.Or, the one where Sergio is a real teacher, Raquel still married to Alberto, Paula 16 year old is and where a lot of difficult choices have to be made.
Relationships: Denver | Daniel Ramos/Mónica Gaztambide, Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina, Rio | Aníbal Cortés/Tokyo | Silene Oliveira
Comments: 94
Kudos: 351





	1. Help me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for at least giving this fic a change. The first few chapters I wrote are a bit short, but I'm working on that, promise. Also the rated thingy might change after a few chapters, not sure.

The sound of the door closing was in sync with the bell ringing through the building.

“Good Morning class,” greeted the professor everybody just like every other day. 

“Good morning mr. Marquina,” the class repeated in a scary cult way. Usually the annoying teenagers would never do this. Every monday morning he had the most troublesome class of that grade. Well, that was what every teacher warned him about when their last history teacher was bullied away. Now he was their History teacher.

And he had them eating out of his hand.

Maybe it was because the class was tired of the trouble they made, or maybe it was because mr. Marquina was one of the open minded teachers, or maybe it was because there was this charm that he had that made everybody swoon, boys and girls. But it didn’t matter.

What mattered that there was always one girl, that one girl, who didn’t obey him, yet.

The door swung open right at the moment the professor opened his mouth to start. She didn’t even apologize for being late. Not that he expected her to, but it would’ve been a nice surprise. 

Usually, he let it slide. But this had happened way more than he liked. 

“And why are you so late, miss Vicuña?” He always spoke to his students with their last name. She was already on her way to her desk when she stopped. Agonizing slow she turned around on the back of her heels. 

“That is none of your business.” She added an innocent smile.

It wasn’t as if Sergio stepped with the wrong foot out of bed that morning, but he just wasn’t having it that day.

“Well, actually, it is.” 

Some kids widened their eyes slightly. They had never seen mr. Marquina mad, and he still wasn’t, but this was the maddest they had yet seen. Okay maybe not mad, more annoyed, but still.

She tipped her head a bit to the right, her eyebrows turning into a slight frown. She didn’t look annoyed or angry for that matter, but it was as if she was examining the professor right then and there. She looked him up and down and a small devilish smile overtook her face. 

“When was the last time you had sex, sir?” 

Sergio’s eyes widened as a few kids in the class gasped.  
“That really isn’t an appropriate question,” He stated. A frown appeared on his face.

How dared she? Asking her teacher that question? It was not only inappropriate but also disrespectful.

The only response she gave was the raise of a singular eyebrow. Since when were sixteen year olds this sassy? Or she had issues at home or her parents were raising her very shitty.

“This is quite disrespectful miss Vicuña.” She shrugged, not caring. But Sergio saw the emotion shift in her eyes. She was… scared? Why scared? “Would you just please sit down so we can resume the class you so kindly disturbed?” 

She looked relieved as she faked a chuckle. With a swift turn, she walked towards the back of the class. 

Sergio looked into space for a second. Maybe he should talk to her parents. There was definitely something going on. This wasn’t the first day Paula acted this way. Maybe things weren’t going well at home.

No, he told himself. This isn’t his job to fix. He should go to her guidance counselor.

But maybe that’s the last thing that she want-

“Mr. Marquina?” The smart kid in the class said hesitant. Sergio snapped out of his trance.

“Yes, my apologies. Today we’ll be talking about the second world war.” 

The rest of the class was odd. He felt odd. He didn’t know what was going on, but he felt it in every word he said. There was lack of excitement. It was as if he was just telling some words with no real meaning behind them. The class noticed too and they took their opportunity and started to wreak havoc.

He already repeated the same sentence three times, but the class just wouldn’t listen. He didn’t blame them, though. If the roles were reversed he wouldn’t have listened either.

Only that one kid was still listening, but honestly, Sergio didn’t really cared anymore. He sat down at his desk and grabbed a book. Maybe this way the class would fly by faster.

And it did. After a while where every teenager was talking the time away and Sergio reading peacefully, the bell rang. 

“Don’t forget the homework! I’ll mail it to you all-,” he trailed off. Most of them were already gone. 

He wasn’t surprised to see that Paula was taking a bit slower. Together with a few others she was the last one. Sergio closed his book and looked at the sixteen year old girl. She looked oddly fragile. Paula was known for being this badass that nobody could hurt. But when she was just packing her books and looking down into her bag, she looked breakable and vulnerable.

He straightened himself on the chair. Something definitely was going on and the girl was practically begging for help at this point. When the four other kids left, swung Paula the bag over her shoulder.

“Miss Vicuña?” She looked at him, her eyes big and filled with fear and hope. Hope there was somebody who maybe wanted to help.

“Yes mr. Marquina?”

“Could you maybe step into my office after school hours?” The hope disappeared within seconds. The professor frowned while Paula avoided eye contact. “Or maybe in the next break?” She looked back at him.

“Yes, yes, yes of course sir.” She gave him a smile before rushing out of the class. 

“I’ll be here!” He exclaimed after her. 

He sighed as the next class came walking in, a troubled look present on his face. He had no idea what was wrong with her. Was it even his job to fix it? Because this was definitely more trouble than what his paycheck offers him. But he would be a bad human to ignore all the signs.

He should handle this the professional way. Find out what’s wrong, send her to the guidance counselor and then everything would turn out to be fine. She is a teenager. Every teenager has a period in there puberty where everything just isn’t going as well as they would like. 

He had to convince himself that there was nothing to be worried about. Though, there was this small, tiny voice in the back of his head screaming at him that there was something very wrong. But he chose to ignore it, stood up and taught the next lesson.

Luckily, the next few periods went by fast and before he knew there was a knock on his door. He looked up, his sandwich still in his mouth.

Paula.

“Oh yes miss Vicuña, come in, come in.” He said, placing his sandwich back in his lunch box. Paula walked in with the same attitude as always, her dark hair swaying left and right with every step she took, closing the door behind her. She sat down on the first table in line. He opened his mouth to say that she should sit on a chair, but he decided against it.

They had something to discuss. He wasn’t sure what yet, but he would find out soon.  
He straightened the red tie as he looked at her. Strange, she didn’t seem nervous at all, something he had expected of her.

“What’s going on miss Vicuña?” He asked her, leaning a bit back in his chair.

Maybe Paula thought that she was a professional at hiding her emotions, but she really wasn’t. She was this big open book full of them. Even to the professor who was terrible at reading people. Sergio saw the exact moment where she questioned everything. She was probably questioning why she even came in the first place, or if she even wanted to tell him.

“I’ve noticed,” He started after she didn’t respond, “that there’s something off. You know that this is a safe place.” She chuckled a bit at the obvious mocking of the cliche words. “No, but really, this is a safe place, Paula.” 

The laugh disappeared. She nodded slowly.

She took a deep breath. “My dad hits my mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! I am genuinely wondering what y'all thought, so if you want to share it, I wouldn't mind. Constructive criticism also welcome, but no hate, I know that there are some stuff to improve on. I'm gonna try uploading a new chapter everyday, but I can't promise anything. Oh and of course if you have an ideas or things that you would like to see then I wouldn't mind reading them! Thank you if you read this long note and thank you for reading this first chapter :)


	2. bad or really bad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I kept my promise! Even though its just the second day, here is chapter 2! I also wanna thank everybody who left a comment on the last one. I know everybody says stuff like "oh it made my day" but, you see, it really did. I like that a lot of people are just as excited as me! :)) Alsooooo im very very very sorry for any grammar mistakes.

“My dad hits my mom.”

Of everything that he had expected her to say, this wasn’t one of them. An abusive household. Well, he had no fucking idea how to respond to that. He just stared at her, no emotions in his eyes.

Tears were welling up in her eyes. “And mom refuses to go to the police because, well, dad is a police officer and so is she, so it makes sense, I guess, but he doesn’t hurt me so that’s good, but I’m afraid he’s going to, though, because he always orders me around and I’m scared that one day he’ll just slap me, too, or just slap my mom harder and she doesn’t deserve that because she’s wonderful and my dad just- not,” She rushed out in one big breath, tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes fixated on the ground.

All he wanted to do was just hug the child and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he wasn’t allowed to. 

“I-” He said, searching for words. “I am legally forced to report this, Paula.” She snapped her head at him. 

“Please don’t,” She sobbed. Her mascara started to run. “I beg you, mr. Marquina, don’t report this.” 

He knew that he was going against the rules, but he nodded. This was dangerous what he was doing. He needed to talk to someone about this. This girl was in serious danger. Not only a big trauma, but she could be hurt anytime now.

He already regretted what he was saying.

“I’m going to call your mother.” Paula already opened her mouth to object. “and arrange a meeting with her.” This was not his place to talk to her mom about it. He needed to go to a counselor, or the headmaster, or even the police.

He knew it. Every fiber in his being was screaming that he was doing the wrong thing. He didn’t know what overcame him as he smiled and told the girl everything was going to be fine. 

The bell rang. She wiped her mascara away with her sleeves. Thanked him for listening and not telling anyone about it and left before Sergio could say anything else.

Even though he knew that he was making the wrong decision, deep down he thought he was making the right one. Seeing Paula so relieved that he wasn’t making this big of a deal out of it, or rather, that he wasn’t involving anymore people, made him feel at least a bit better.

Maybe he should be glad. She at least told someone. He told himself that she wasn’t hurt, yet. Paula was physically okay. But he had to do something about the father, because this? This wasn’t how a mother or a daughter should be treated, nobody for that matter.

The next period he was free so he decided to search mrs Vicuña her phone number. It didn’t take long before he found it. Should he call now? She was probably at work. But otherwise she would be at home. 

He decided to just call her and see what would happen.

The phone rang a few times before a woman picked up. “Yes?” The professor swallowed.

“Hello, is this mrs Vicuña?” He asked hesitant. The woman behind the phone was silent for a second. There was a lot of sound in the background.

“Uhm, yes. Who is this?” For a second all he could think about was her voice and the fact that this was the woman who was being abused.

“Uh yeah my name is Sergio Marquina, I’m your daughter's history teacher. Is this the right timing? I could call you another time” Mrs Vicuña immediately sighed. 

“What did she do?” She sounded tired. Sergio spinned around in his chair as he frowned. His free hand was playing with the buttons on his blazer.

He wanted to ask why she asked that, but maybe it was wiser to not.

“She didn’t do anything wrong. I wondered if we could schedule a meeting.” This sounded weird and a bit creepy. “I do that with every student’s parents. It’s always important to meet the parents to build a good student teacher relationship. It’s easier to keep them in control that way.”

Why did he sound so nervous? There was no reason for him to be nervous. Her voice was just really soothing. He wanted to slap himself on his forehead. What was he doing? Involving himself in this mess. He was crazy.

“I now understand why my daughter always talks so fondly about you, mr. Marquina,” she chuckled. Without himself knowing he smiled, his cheeks turning warmer. “I’ll have to check with my husband if it’s okay, though.” Her tone shifted.

Fuck, no, he needed her alone. Not with him. Absolutely not with him!

“I actually prefer to always talk to one parent. If that is alright with you of course.” She was silent for a while. 

“Mrs Vicuña?” 

“Oh yes uhm sorry, no that’s fine. When did you have in mind?” 

“As soon as possible. This afternoon?” 

“I’ll just come by when I’ll pick up Paula, if that’s fine.”

“Yes of course.”

“Well, see you soon mr. Marquina.” 

There was something about the way his last name fell of her tongue that made him lose his breath.

“See you soon.” He hung up.

He wasn’t sure what to feel. Disappointed, afraid, angry, sad? But he knew that he wasn’t supposed to feel that tingle in his stomach. He didn’t know what it was, or what it meant, but it was nice... so he suppressed the hell out of it.

What he was doing right now could go two ways: bad or really bad.

And he was afraid it was going to be the latter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :)) I hope y'all enjoyed it! Hopefully I remember to upload tomorrow. I already wrote chapter 5 so I do have a kind of plan of where this is going, but I'm not sure yet.


	3. please come with me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it was a lot harder than expected to write Raquel's reactions. I think i did a decent job, but I'm not satisfied... but then again i guess this is just me practicing my writing skills so it doesn't have to be perfect, yet. Sorry for the grammar mistakes, I reread it a million times but there probably some left.

After finding out when Paula was actually done with school for that day, he went to his office to think. He knew he wasn’t getting any work done with that on his mind. Those tests could wait another day.

He rolled up the sleeves of his white blouse, exposing his forearms. He loosened his red tie as he raised his feet on the desk. 

What was he doing? He wasn’t qualified for this. An abusive household. How should he even approach this? Was he even doing the right thing to be telling mrs Vicuña this?

Yes, he told himself firmly. Of course it was. There was a reason why she hadn’t left, yet, and maybe it was because she just hasn’t seen the wrong in the situation, yet. He didn’t know much about abusive households, luckily, but he was pretty smart. He knew nobody would stay there if they completely knew what was going on and why it was so wrong. 

Besides, it never starts with one slap.

The Professor was slowly telling himself that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t handling this all too bad.

Maybe he was though.

But before he could dwell on it any longer, there was a knock on the door. He threw his feet off of the desk and stood up, straightening his blouse. “Come in!” He said as he walked over to the door.

It opened hesitantly, revealing the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

With long dark blonde hair and a body of a greek goddess, she had the audacity to smile at him. “Hello,” She said as she extended her hand. Dressed in just simple suit pants and a blouse, her sleeves rolled up and the top buttons undone, she had the ability to make the professor lose his mind.

What was happening?

With a dry mouth and cheeks warm, he shook her hand. Get yourself together Sergio, he said to himself.

“Raquel Vicuña,” She said hesitantly after he kept his mouth shut. That snapped him out of his trance. What was he doing? 

“Sergio Marquina, come in.” He mentally slapped himself, put on a friendly smile and ignored the tingly feeling in his stomach. He closed the door after her as she walked over to the chair in front of his desk. She dropped her back next to it and jacket on the chair itself.

“I- uh- I would offer you something to drink, but,” he trailed off, looking around the room. It was very… plain. Nothing more than a bookcase filled to the rim with books and a desk with three chairs around it.

She chuckled, telling him it was alright. The smile she gave him made him warm all over.

Never had a woman made him feel like this. He chuckled sheepishly. What was she doing? Was this some kind of witchcraft? Was she a witch? Oh god she was a witch. He carefully sat down.

Raquel looked expectantly at him, waiting for him to say something.

Right, her abusive husband.

Sergio immediately pushed every weird, warm, content feeling away and focussed on the problem at hand. “Yes, Paula.” He cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. He immediately noticed the worried look in her face. “I assure you, she did nothing wrong,” He said, a small smile playing on his face. It was sweet how worried she was about her daughter.

“It’s actually- uhm, well, after class I requested her to stay for a second,” he started even though he had no idea how and where. He had anticipated every little thing that could go wrong in this conversation, yet right at that moment he even forget when his birthday was. 

“And we talked, about some issues she’s having.” 

Raquel shifted uncomfortable in her chair.

“I have absolutely no idea how to handle this. I mean- should I go to the headmaster with this? Or the police? But then I thought maybe first just yo-”

“You know.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. One that was very correct. He held eye contact as he slowly nodded. Her eyes shifted to something darker.

It wasn’t visible, he noticed. She didn’t even look like this was happening to her. But did one ever? 

“I’m sorry if I’m crossing some boundaries here.” She laughed sadly, it was hollow. He hated it already. “I’m sure that I already am, but I can’t just… not do anything about this, mrs Vicuña. I hope you understand that.” 

She nodded, tears already forming in her eyes. Now it was the professor shifting uncomfortably. 

“I-” he swallowed. “Paula is afraid of your husband.” 

That was the last drop. Tears were streaming down her face as she remained a stoic expression. It looked cold and broken. He couldn’t look at her. Such a beautiful woman. She didn’t deserve this. She really didn’t.

It looked like everything finally dawned on the mother. Her husband was abusing her, physically and mentally. And their own daughter was scared shitless of him. 

“It- It really wasn’t your place to say anything,” she started, her voice wavering. She tried so hard to remain calm. The history teacher already opened his mouth to apologize, but she was faster. “Thank you.” And she broke down.

Ugly sobs escaped her throat. She hid her face in her hands as her shoulders shook up and down.

Sergio had no idea how to handle this. He knew that it probably wasn’t smart to touch her, not only because they were total strangers but also because, well, she might have some flashbacks. 

So he grabbed the box of tissues he had placed on the desk for this kind of things and shoved it carefully towards her. She looked up, her eyes big and red, tear stained cheeks. And she chuckled at how cute and innocent the teacher was. 

Weird. This was not the reaction Sergio expected. He expected her to run away, break down, yell, rip her hair out. But this? No, not really. 

“My boyfriend is abusing me,” she stated weakly after grabbed a tissue, blowing her nose in a not so sexy way. But then again, it is never sexy. “He’s hitting me, controlling me and scaring my daughter. And I don’t know what to do.” 

It was as if she had already cried so many times over this that she had lost every ounce of tears in her body. She looked weak, broken down and completely and utterly done. 

“I-” He thought for a second. “I am in no position to tell you what to do, but I would leave him and go to the police.” She swallowed loud, wiping away her tears. 

“I am so sorry,” She suddenly said. The professor frowned. “Crying in the office of my daughter’s teacher, it couldn’t feel more embarrassed.” 

“Raquel,” he said, “there is nothing to be embarrassed about.” She looked intensely at him. 

He hated how he had no idea what she was thinking at that moment. What did she want to do? What was she thinking? He wished he knew.

“I don’t know where to go,” she whispered. The professors heart broke. 

“If that’s the thing you are worrying about the most right now, you shouldn’t have to worry about anything. You need to get away from him.” 

She nodded. She sighed relieved. But nothing had changed, yet? Why was she relieved? Because someone finally beside herself and her daughter knew? Because she wasn't alone? Or maybe because she didn’t have to say that fucker anytime soon again.

“You’re right.” 

He looked taken aback. This was easier than expected. But then again, he had no idea how long this had been going on, how far she was with the process in her head. For all he know she would’ve went to the police next week. But it was obvious that she had needed somebody to push her over the edge. He was glad that it was him.

She stood up, wiping away the lasts tears. She still looked broken, but there was something there, something that Sergio wasn’t sure what to call. Strength? Hope? Confidence? 

“What if they don’t believe me?” She suddenly rushed out. Sergio looked at her for a second. “He’s a cop. So am I. They will ask questions like why didn’t I stand up? Maybe even accuse me of lying.” 

“Well,” He said, standing up now, too. “do you have evidence.” She was silent for a while. The professor was scared that she didn’t have any. Because if she really didn’t, this might be a lost cause. 

But then she nodded. It was slow, hesitant. “I do,” she whispered. “a whole box of medical records, security footage, recordings of the things he said to me, photos of- of my bruises.” 

It was silent in the room. 

“I’m gonna give it to police,” she said while avoiding eye contact. She walked over to the door, indicating that she was leaving. “Thank you,” she said, her back still faced towards him. 

It oddly felt like a goodbye. Sergio’s heart stopped for a second. It was weird how he didn’t want to say: no problem, goodbye Raquel. Even if he still had Paula in his class, he would probably not see mrs Vicuña for a long long time. Maybe never. But maybe it’s for the best.

“No problem,” he said, his voice steady. She turned her head, her eyes fixated on the floor. Slowly but surely she looked up at him.

“Please come with me.” 

He swallowed. Without another word said or thought he grabbed his jacket and keys, walking over to her. There was this look in his eyes. He was absolutely determined to fix this, even if it wasn’t his to fix. 

Together they walked out of the office.

“Mom?” A voice said, demanding attention from her mother.

Paula… they forget she was still there.

“Ah uh yes uhm ready to go?” Sergio was standing awkwardly behind Raquel. Paula looked at her teacher. 

“Mr. Marquina, are you joining is?” She asked uncertain and a bit awkward. Raquel looked at her daughter and then at the professor. 

“He actually is. He’s gotta bring me somewhere.” The mother smiled as her daughter walked towards her. Paula hugged her mother tightly. She whispered something, but Sergio couldn’t hear it. He looked away out of respect and because he felt like he was invading their privacy.

Without many more words they walked towards Raquel’s car.

“Uhm, I’m just-” The professor waved towards the other side of the parking terrain. “I’m just gonna take my car and I’ll meet you there?” Raquel looked at him for a second, as if she was examining him thoroughly. She nodded.

He turned around on the ball of his heels, walking away from the mother and daughter when Paula’s voice stopped him.

“Thank you, mr. Marquina.” He looked over his shoulder, seeing the teenager looking at him. He smiled at her and nodded, as if he was saying that he would do it all again. Well, this thing just became way too heavy.

He walked further towards the car, each step heavier than the one before. Why was he doing this? He didn’t know Raquel. He was a simple history teacher. One that had, well, has been alive for a while, but never really lived. Was this some excuse for him to tell a story to- absolutely nobody someday?

Or was he doing this for her?

He got into his way too expensive car for just his simple teacher's paycheck and drove off to the police station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! And again for all the comments, you guys make me really happy!


	4. My husband

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I can't believe so many people are reading this fanfic. It means a lot to me, thank you. I still haven't failed to upload everyday, but we're only at day 4 :). Like always, my apologies for any grammar errors.

There was something weirdly.... hot about Raquel getting out of her car. The wind pushing her hair slightly back, accentuating her face. The determined look on her face while she still held that soft look. She looked powerful and it was very, very, very hot. 

Sergio immediately let go of those thoughts. She searched the parking place for a second before her eyes landed on him. He was merily standing against his car, which she eyed suspiciously, but didn’t mention when he walked over to her.

“You ready?” Sergio asked as she opened the trunk of her car. She pulled some stuff aside, revealing a carton box. It didn’t look very heavy, but she had to pick it up with some trouble. Without much words she handed it over to him- oh damn. 

That was a lot of evidence, he thought worriedly. What had she gone through? How many times had she just- laid there, crying, in pain? 

He wanted to drop the box and hug that poor woman right there and then, but he decided against it. Not only because, you know, the evidence and that they were strangers, but also because he knew that she didn’t want anyone to pity her. And he respected that. He also wanted her to be okay. God, he would do anything to make her feel okay again. 

“No,” she suddenly said. Oh- wait he had asked if she was ready. “But it needs to be done.” He nodded, agreeing completely. Raquel gave him a weak smile as she closed the trunk door.

The walk from the car to the police station was the longest walk he had ever taken. And that was not dramatic. The tension in the air was not only unbearable but also absolutely agonizing. Knowing what was about to happen not more than 5 minutes from that moment, got both of them on edge. Sergio had to remind himself over and over again that this was the last time he would see her. This wasn’t his mess to fix.

But he wanted to fix it.

It was even worse that there was nobody but them to help.

“Inspector Murillo!” Murillo? Oh- her last name. He liked that way more than Vicuña. “I thought you already went home?” The lady behind the desk asked. Raquel gave her a weak smile. 

“I’m here to report someone,” she said, her voice wavering. The lady's eyes looked at Sergio and raised an eyebrow. 

“Him?” she asked carefully, not seeing how that man could do any harm. He maybe looked a bit dark and mysterious, but also very innocent. It probably were the glasses.

“No,” Raquel said, bracing herself for the next words: my husband. 

Sergio looked around the place. There were a lot of police officers but none of them were really paying attention. He wondered how his brother did it- well he knew how he did it-

A man caught his attention. Walking into the room as if the whole world adored him. Tall and broad shoulders. Girls were probably all over him. He looked up, but not at Sergio, but at Raquel. He opened his mouth. To call her name, Sergio assumed.

“I’m here to report my husband.”

“Raquel.” 

Her head whipped to the side as she stepped further back towards Sergio, who was still holding the box.

It wasn’t that hard to put two and two together. That was her husband and he had definitely heard that. He couldn’t just stand there while this intimidating man walked towards her. With just a few steps he stood in front of the lady. With a loud thud he let the box hit the counter.

“Evidence.” His voice was low and a bit threatening. In the corner of his eye he saw the blurry husband halting. Avoiding eye-contact with Sergio and eyeing the box suspiciously. Then, with much slower steps, he walked towards his wife. A bitter smile appeared on Sergio’s face.

That was not happening.

The professor turned around with a fast movement and with just two steps he stood next to Raquel, searching for eye-contact with that god awful husband. He gave him a sweet, innocent smile.

“Raquel, what is this?” His voice was low and threatening, not matching the person at all. He looked like a man who you could trust, no matter what. Sergio shivered. In the corner of his eye he saw how a different officer looked through the box with the lady behind the counter. Good.

He noticed Raquel trembling besides him, fear radiating off of her. How hadn’t anyone noticed it before? It was obvious. 

“Who’s he?” 

None of them answered. 

Sergio was filled with rage. There in front of him stood a man who dared to hit his wife. It was absolutely disgusting. 

The same police officer who had searched through the box, grabbed his handcuffs. “I’m so sorry, Alberto,” He said as he walked over to the abuser. Suddenly, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“You’ll regret this, Raquel,” he almost spit out. 

“You’re under arrest-” well, that got the attention of the whole room. “for domestic abuse. You have the right to remain silent.” Alberto didn’t even budge when the handcuffs were put on. He looked straight at Raquel, not breaking eye contact. “Anything that you may say can be used against you in court.” They walked away with him.

The room was dead silent. 

Nobody had expected this from the two greatest cops in the precinct. The moment Alberto was out of sight, every pair of eyes turned to Raquel, who had never been more relieved in her life. 

Sergio turned to her with a worried look on his face. Was she okay? It was the only thing he could think about. She certainly didn’t look okay. Tears were gathering in her eyes as she stared at the place he just stood seconds okay.

Another police officer walked over them. “Raquel?” He spoke softly as he was close to her. He didn’t dare to touch her. “Ángel,” She whispered as she looked at him, completely broken. 

The simple history teacher just stood there, watching how Ángel was telling Raquel all kind of things. 

He couldn’t focus. Every sound was muffled, his sight blurry. What just happened? What was he even doing? More than million questions were running through his mind. There were no words for him to register what just happened in his head. He hated it.

Raquel looked up at him and, suddenly, he didn’t care what just happened or what he was even doing there. All he needed was for her to be safe.

“You can go home,” She said. 

He swallowed the lump in his throat away. She wanted him gone. He wanted her safe and she wanted him gone. 

And once again hit reality Sergio pretty hard. He shouldn’t care, not like that. He wasn’t sure what ‘that’ even meant, but it didn’t matter. All he knew that it wasn’t appropriate. What he was doing was far from appropriate.

“Thank you,” She whispered with a small grateful smile as she got taken away by that Ángel. Another police officer following them with the box full of evidence.

Everybody went on with their work, but Sergio felt like he couldn’t move.

It felt wrong to leave. He wasn’t sure why, but it did. She was not only going to be absolutely tired when she was done, but also emotional. She was in no state to drive home. But then again someone would probably take care of her, she was loved here. And, most important off all, she wanted him to go away. 

Somebody bumped against him. “You’re in the way, buddy,” They said, snapping Sergio out of his trance.

He was. He was in the way.

So he walked out of the precinct with a heavy heart, got into his car and made his way home. Raquel never left his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading. I'm very curious what you all thought of this chapter. Maybe it's because I read this a million times now, but I have the feeling everything went by too fast, I'm not hooked. But that can be because I wrote it. Anyways, let me know if you actually think the same or not, or don't of course, I can't tell you what to do.


	5. Hit him hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helllooooo, welcome back. Today we're here with a new chapter :) Enjoy and as always, sorry for any grammar mistakes or sentences that just- aren't it.

It was already Thursday, third period was going to start in just a few minutes. Sergio hadn’t heard anything from Raquel, nor from Paula. He hadn’t even seen her in the hallways. 

But he still didn’t know why he was so nervous for the next class. Paula’s class. 

Would she even be there? He would totally understand if she wasn’t. Even though that awful man terrified her, he was still her father. He had still raised her. It was definitely hard on both of them. While Alberto was probably still in handcuffs, it didn’t mean that it was over. 

The chances that Raquel got PTSD from this were high and Paula had definitely suffered, too. Besides, Raquel still had some love for him. At least that’s what Sergio assumed. 

Deep down he wished that he knew Raquel longer than this. That they were close friends and that he could just show up with a bottle of wine and talk. 

And a kiss.

Wait what. Let's not ever think about that again. Absolutely not. That was way over line. He didn’t even know her well enough, yet. This was purely based on that she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen in his life and that she was nice, respectful, strong, brave and intelligent. 

His next class came walking in.

See, time to stop thinking about Raquel and start thinking about the Blitzkrieg.

“Good morning,” He said, pushing himself out of his chair to stand by the door. He was pleasantly surprised to see Paula. She was busy chatting with her friends as she walked through the door, not even sparing her teacher a glance. 

He smiled. That’s how he liked to see it.

For the first time in a while nobody was late or absent. This is a very good begin of the day.

“I emailed everybody with the homework assignment. I hope that everybody had studied it because I have a fun quiz for you all.” The class immediately grabbed their phones. It hadn’t taken long before Sergio learned that they would do anything if you put it in a kahoot. So he definitely used that.

And it helped that the top three always got chocolate or marshmallows from him. 

He searched the kahoot up. This was always the moment where everyone was texting or snapping or whatever the youth did on those phone these days. He didn’t really mind it.

But he had never anticipated the next thing to happen. 

“Oh my god guys, a man in custody escaped from the precinct a few blocks away,” a boy yelled from the back. Sergio snapped his head towards him, just as Paula. 

“Wait who?” Somebody asked. “Is he a murderer?” another girl asked in fear. 

“No no no… uh he got arrested for domestic assault.” Oh god this was definitely Paula’s father.

Sergio watched Paula’s reaction, but she was frozen. In fear? Shock? He had no idea. He wondered why Alberto would do something like that. It just- it didn’t make sense. Why would he escape like that? It was the stupidest thing you could possibly do.

“Wait- Alberto Vicuña?” Someone said. Everybody looked towards Paula, who was still frozen. It was as if she couldn’t comprehend what was happening. 

“Let’s just start the quiz,” the history teacher said, wanting the attention to go away from Paula. 

Sergio was a great teacher, but he had trouble handling situations he wasn’t prepared for.

He swore that he only took his eyes off her for a few seconds, but before he knew she was running out of the classroom. Fuck. 

“Everybody,” he immediately spoke, his voice loud and demanding. “Stay here and don’t get yourself in trouble.” They all nodded as he speed walked out of the classroom.

She was definitely running, so he blindly followed the sounds of her footsteps in the hallway, running behind her. This was already the fourth year mr. Marquina teached on this school and he was no idiot. Paula was running outside.

Fuck. No. In no way would Alberto visit his daughters school. That would exactly be where they expect him. And no way should she go out there to look for him. 

He started running faster.

The door closed as it came in view. He finally saw Paula, who was already walking onto the parking lot. It must’ve looked weird. A simple teenager running through the halls, followed by a history teacher. 

The cold air wind hit him hard in the face as he heard people talk. “Paula!” That motherfucker was there. Police sirens were audible in the distance, coming closer and closer. Yeah, they were definitely going to look here.

He saw Paula standing there and just a few feet away her father. Rage over took him as he closed his fist. He made his way to Paula. Alberto saw him soon enough. It was almost laughable how Alberto still wore the handcuffs.

“You again?” He said. 

“Paula you have to come inside again,” he said, trying to remain calm. The girl shook her head. Alberto got this disgusting self-satisfied smirk on his face. He was crazy. Was he even aware that there were police looking for him?

He heard the school door open and looked behind him.

Fuck, the class. Hadn’t he been clear enough? They should've stayed inside. Goddamnit.

“It’s fine, mr. Marquina.” Well now Alberto knew definitely who he was; his daughters teacher. “He just wants to say goodbye.” 

Alberto was already moving towards Paula, but Sergio grabbed her and stood in front of her.

“You won’t lay a hand on her,” he said in a threatening way.

“Yeah mr. Marquina!” Somebody yelled like a cheerleader. Oh he was going to be quite mad when they were back inside. This was dangerous. This man was serious danger. Especially for his daughter.

“Who are you to tell me that, mr. Marquina.” Sergio closed his fists, trying to not punch him right there and then. This man got on every single nerve.

“Your crimes tell you that, mr. Vicuña.” Alberto was visibly upset by that. Fuck. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. This man was clearly unstable. He looked like a wild animal, something Paula finally realized. Sergio’s hand started to shake. Maybe he was just a bit scared.

Paula hid further behind the professor.

“Let me hug her,” he said. The sirens were coming closer. He looked warily around, as if he just realized that he had escaped. “Let me hug her!” he demanded. Sergio held his ground. 

“No.” 

He wasn’t much taller, but he was much bigger. It was almost cartoon like. A, in comparison, small man, dressed in a simple suit that old men wear, refusing a demand from a big, broad, strong man who would probably slap him anytime now.

But Sergio refused. He didn’t know what he would do. Maybe he would grab Paula and run away with her. She was just a fragile sixteen year old. And if it was for Sergio, that wouldn’t happen over his dead body.

When Alberto came closer, ready to actually step on the history teacher and take his own daughter with him, was Sergio done. If he wasn’t going to stay away without violence, then he was going to stay away with.

Even though Sergio had a lot against violence, he loved punching that man square in the face. And based on how the blood was already streaming from his nose, it was a good one, too. 

Paula ran away as Alberto stumbled back. The sirens were closer and closer. But all that Sergio could focus on was the tingling in his fist. He just hit him. He just hit a man with years of police training. He was definitely going to get in trouble for this. 

Then, and he almost didn’t see it in time, Alberto swinged his fist, ready to give him a hit. He knew that years of material arts and boxing would pay off one day. Sergio grabbed his arm, turned him around, kicked him in the back of his knees and held his arm just in the right place to make him unconscious.

And at that moment the police arrived.

He slowly let him down. The rush, the adrenaline, the almost joy that he got out of this was not only alarming, but also addicting. He felt like he was on top of the world with those sirens ringing in the background. 

He almost didn’t notice the three police officers rushing towards them.

“Sir, are you okay?” “Where is the daughter?” “Who are you?” “He’s just knocked out, not dead.” 

He heard them but it didn’t register in his brain.

“Sergio!” 

Raquel.

He looked up towards the sound. It was indeed Raquel rushing over to him and her knocked out husband. He stood up, brushing the dust off of his pants, slowly coming back down to earth. 

“You should check on your daughter,” he said when she came closer. She looked stressed and very worried. She looked between her husband on the ground, her daughter in front of the group of children and the history teacher. 

She nodded and rushed over to her daughter.

“I’m sorry I did that,” he said towards the officers. They were trying to wake Alberto. One looked up. “He wanted to get to Paula and I- I just wasn’t having it.” He nodded.

Wait, wasn’t that Ángel? 

“You had to do what you had to do, sir. You didn’t know what else could’ve happened.” Sergio nodded slowly. He was surprised he wasn’t in more trouble. “We’re gonna bring him back to the precinct and one officer will get a statement from you.” Sergio nodded as he stepped away from the scene. 

“Uhm- I’m gonna bring my class back inside.” Ángel nodded and focussed his attention back on Alberto, who was finally waking up. He turned around and walked back to his class, who were looking shocked.

“There is nothing to see here, back into the class!” He said. God he really didn’t have the energy to get mad at them. 

“That was really cool, mr. Marquina.” 

“Shut up, Brad.” He ignored Raquel standing there with Paula. He suddenly felt really tired and on edge. He directed everybody to go inside again. 

“Mr. Marquina?” Somebody said behind him. A sigh left his mouth. He was just about to get inside again. He turned around swiftly, seeing it was Raquel who said it- oh.

“Yes?” He was a lot more awake right now. She was standing there, her daughter pressed against her.

“Thank you,” She said, not for the first time. He swallowed, ignoring that stupid warm feeling in his belly. He should feel guilty or bad or whatever, but not this. He gave her a smile and walked back inside without another word. His brain couldn’t really catch up with what actually happened that week.

It had been a while since his life had been this crazy.

It wasn’t long before the police officers found him to get a statement. The period had just ended and luckily he had no class to teach. That one officer Ángel walked into the classroom, followed by Paula and Raquel.

Sergio closed his laptop, turning around on his chair. 

They all grabbed some chairs and sat on them, but Paula of course had to sit on a table. Sergio chuckled hollow. It reminded him of just a few days ago when Paula was crying. God that seemed a long time ago.

It was weird how every feeling had merged into one, yet he felt empty, tired and just done with this. This is why he had stopped so many years ago. He needed to focus on one big thing, or it would become too much. And it became too much.

“So,” the officer started, “what happened?” 

“We were gonna play a kahoot with the class when, I think it was Jason, said somebody had escaped. Paula,” he looked at her for a second and then back to the police officer, trying not to yawn. “ran out of the classroom, so naturally I went after her. Then she was there on the parking lot and then he was there and I was like no don’t touch her and she was like he just wants to say goodbye. And then he came closer so I said don’t come closer, but he did. So I punched him in the face-”

“Hard,” Paula added.

“yes, I punched him hard in the face. And then he wanted to punch me, too, so I grabbed his arm, turned him around and suffocated him in a safe way so he would just be knocked out.”

He knew that he told it fast and probably a bit unclear, but he just wanted to go home. 

He didn’t realize Raquel was looking at him the whole time with this look in her eyes that was just pure adoration.

“Well, I’m not saying you did the right thing,” Ángel said, “but it wasn’t wrong either. Thank you for your time.”

Sergio nodded, not sure if he should say something. He really didn’t care, though. All he could think about was his bed. He pushed his glasses further on his nose. 

“Mom, can we go?” Paula asked. Sergio wasn’t surprised for her to go home, he was planning on going home, too. He looked up at the mother and daughter. 

“Yeah, you go to the car, I’ll be right there.” Paula didn’t think much of it and just walked away, clearly just as tired as him.

Sergio only fully realized what Raquel just said when it was already too late. They were alone again.

Why would it matter? He asked himself. But deep down inside he knew that answer.

For a moment Raquel just looked at him. Sergio had never been good at reading people, but it became even harder when a beautiful woman was looking so intensely at him. For a second he lost every ability to think and breath.

Suppress that feeling, he told himself over and over again, just suppress it.

He grabbed his bag to put his laptop and his pencil case in it, shoving his lunchbox inside. He was actually hungry, maybe he should eat something later. 

“You know,” Raquel said. There was something in her voice that he couldn’t decipher. He hated it. “what you did was really sweet.” He looked up at her, while he raised himself from the chair. She stood already, leaning against a table.

Only now did he realize she was wearing a gray pencil skirt with a grey blazer and a light blue blouse, top buttons undone. He swallowed. 

“I just did what everybody would’ve done,” he murmured, pushing his glasses back on his nose. The inspector laughed quietly, stepping towards him.

“Thank you-” she was really close. Like, really close. “- Sergio.” His breath got caught in his throat as she leaned forward, pressing her lips softly on his cheek. His heart was racing when she stepped back, a small smile on her lips. He couldn’t help but look down at them.

This was inappropriate.

He looked back into her eyes again. “No problem.” It was meant to be casually said, but it came out as a breath. Her smile was absolutely breathtaking as she left the classroom, leaving him an absolute mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, I feel like I should say that even though I have a lot of ideas for this, I don't know where I'm going with this. It could be just a few more chapters, but it could also be a lot longer and more slowburn-ish... It really depends on me basically staying motivated, but I'll try my best. Anyways, thank you for still reading this fanfic, lemme know what you think :)


	6. Red wine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back :) i have some kinda bad news?? I’m stuck. Like i know what i want to happen, but im just stuck... so heres a short kinda sort of a filler

Without hesitation she drunk the glass empty with only three gulps. Well, she definitely needed that. 

She had already sent Paula to bed. Raquel wasn’t stupid and knew that Paula was probably still on her phone doing god knows what, but at least she could think now. 

Honestly, it all had happened so fast.

She refilled her wine glass and took it with her to the couch. She turned on the tv, just so that she had something in the background. She always did this, or used to do. Whenever she would be alone she would just drink and think. Those two things went great together.

But lately, she’s never really found the time to be alone. And that lately has been four full years now. She sighed. 

Alberto….

She knew that she should feel relieved and don’t get her wrong, she was. God, she felt free. Knowing that he just couldn’t show up anymore and yell at her. 

She took a sip of the red wine.

But it was strange how she also lost her husband. But, well, hadn’t she lost him four years ago? For a minute she wondered how it had got this far. Twenty years ago he had seemed perfect. He was sweet, charming and just a gentleman, especially to her. 

She guessed that it hadn’t really been their choice to marry, though. They had to. Paula wasn’t planned. She had been shocked when at only 24 she found out that she was pregnant. Her life hadn’t even been stable back then. But she had Alberto who got her through it. For a while, he was the perfect husband.

Not only supported he her financially, but also emotionally. It seemed too good to be true that they were even working in the same station. And in the end, it was too good to be true. 

She only then realized that she wasn’t sad about Alberto being gone, but she was sad that that man from so so long ago, was actually gone. Did he ever really exist though? There were always those comments. Things like; don’t wear that skirt, men are pigs. Or are you sure you still wanna work? You have to take care of Paula. 

It had been a facade. Or not and she was just completely in love. She hadn’t loved Alberto for a long time anymore. Maybe that’s why he started abusing her. Maybe he felt that something was wrong. 

She took another sip. A bigger one this time. A really big one.

Deep down she knew that she was already debating leaving him just before the slapping begun. But, even after, she just- she couldn’t. Not because she was so in love with him, but because she never saw him as a monster. Yes, she was scared, absolutely terrified. That was one big reason why she didn’t leave him. But also every evening he hugged her in her sleep, kissing her neck and telling her he loved her. And wasn’t that enough? Wasn’t that all that she needed?

Apparently, it wasn’t.

Tears were gathering in her eyes as she finally saw who he truly was. 

Even when Sergio had convinced her to turn him in, she had been hesitant. But hearing that story on the parking lot? About how dangerous he actually was. It was terrible. How could she had let him do all that? What was this for example for her daughter?

Right there and then on the couch, a glass of wine in her hands and tears streaming down her face, she convinced herself she was the worst mother to exist. The worst wife. And the worst person ever.

How could she have let him? She had met so many women who were emotionally or physically abused, and sometimes even both, and she always wondered why they never just left earlier.

But they never realized until it was too late. 

And she didn’t either.

But Paula did. And Paula went to someone. Her history teacher. Sergio.

God, she needed more wine for this.

So after emptying and refilling her glass she allowed herself to go, well, that way.

She was crazy, absolutely out of her mind. She technically was still married to Alberto and she just stepped out of a long abusive relationship. It didn’t make sense that all she wanted to do was kiss him.

This was not only way too fast, but also completely inappropriate. This was Paula’s history teacher. She was even more of a terrible mother than she originally thought.

But he was just… she didn’t have words for what she felt for him. 

Because she felt absolutely nothing for him, that’s why.

Besides, it wasn’t as if she was ready for a relationship. Okay, wow, where did relationship come from? Maybe it wasn’t smart to think about Sergio. It really wasn’t.

She had already crossed a line with that cheek kiss. She felt stupid. Not only had they met under some circumstances that she didn’t particularly liked, but he had also seen her cry the very first moment they met. And she had kissed him on the cheek. She wasn’t blind, he had clearly been uncomfortable. 

She was crazy. 

She should apologize. Yes, definitely. She had made him uncomfortable, so he had bad feelings towards her, so she should apologize. That’s only logical thing to do. But she didn’t know where he lived and she didn’t even have his phone number.

She took a sip of her wine.

But he had called her that one time. Ha! She did had his number. Well, wasn’t this just working out perfectly? 

The next morning she was going to throw herself off of the roof, but then it seemed like a perfect idea.

She looked around, searching for her phone. After a five minute search she realized it was just in her back pocket. Nobody really called her expect her mom and Paula, so it wasn’t hard to find his number.

She downed the glass and pressed call. 

She actually wasn’t nervous at all. Why should she? This was just her daughter's teacher she was apologizing to. Nothing to be nervous of. 

After a few rings, a low voice picked up. “Yes?” If Raquel was sober she might’ve realized that she had woke him up. But all she felt were those weird tingles in her stomach. Something that she hadn’t had in a long long time.

“Sergio?” The other line was silent for a while.

“Raquel?” She giggled at the way he spoke her name. Oh she could never get tired of him saying her name. “Wait- are you drunk?” 

“Nooo,” She said, still smiling. “I just wanna apologize.”

“Uhm, why?” She propped her feet on the couch.

“Because I made you uncomfortable.” It was silent. “With that kiss.” She sounded way too innocent but all she could think about was him pushing her against a wall, kissing her senselessly.

Sergio cleared his throat. “You didn’t,” He said, his voice low and, well, just sexy. There was no reason the beat around the bush. That man was sexy.

“I didn’t?” What did he mean by that? 

“No, now Raquel I think you’re really drunk so you should go to sleep.” She hummed. So she hadn’t made him uncomfortable… what had she made him then?

“Oh- are you going to sleep too?” There was a chuckle on the other line. God, he was so cute. 

“Goodnight inspector,” he whispered fondly.

“Goodnight professor,” she giggled. 

He hung up, leaving her strangely giddy behind.

What was he doing to her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading (and sorry for the grammar mistakes). Hope you enjoyed :)


	7. well, fuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey :) I don't have much to say, so apologies for grammar mistakes and enjoy.

Just because Raquel and him hadn’t spoken the entire weekend or seen each other, didn’t mean she wasn’t on his mind. No, on the contrary actually. He thought about her all the time. Especially after that weird call.

But he had already decided to never ever think or talk about that phone call ever again. Because that was the right thing to do.

It was Monday morning, again. First Period. Paula’s class. He swallowed.

Was Raquel okay? Had she already filed for a divorce? Had she been really drunk? Had she been flirting with him?

No, stop! He had promised himself to not think about that call. He should get Raquel off of his mind. 

“Good morning, mr. Marquina,” chirped Paula’s happy voice. He looked up confused. She was the first to arrive… wait what? Her other classmates dripped in behind her. 

“Good morning, miss Vicuña.” The confusement was clearly hearable. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Paula this happy. A smile crept upon his face.

“It’s miss Murillo,” was heard from the back of the class.

Murillo. 

Raquel Murillo.

She filed the divorce. Oh god he almost did a happy dance right then and there. This was amazing news! She was taking steps without, well as far as he knew, any help. But he kept his excitement inside and only smiled and nodded at her. 

When everybody was inside, he started the lesson. 

“Good morning, today we are gonna redo the kahoot.” He almost didn’t notice the cult way like good morning they all said. He was too content to care.

They were in the middle of their kahoot when the speakers went on. An agonizing high pitched sound went through the building. Somebody cleared his throat.

“Good morning everybody,” the speakers said. “I hope y’all have a wonderful start of the day. And if you aren’t having one, then I have some great news for you. But it’s also great news for the ones that are having a great one. You know, it’s just always good news.”

Sergio really disliked the headmaster. She was never clear with what she wanted, she was always all over the place and you couldn’t have one good conversation with her.

She cleared her throat again. “Anyways… I’m sure all you kids have seen the posters, but Thursday afternoon is the bake sale!” The silence was laughable. Mr. Marquina could get the kids more excited about old Roman temples. “Not only do I expect you all to bake something, because, well, it’s mandatory, but also because we’re raising money for a charity! Whoever sells the most baked goodies can choose which! Isn’t that just exciting?!” 

Again, nobody talked in the classroom. Sergio was even pretty sure that the whole school was dead silent. Baking sales weren’t uncommon. Every two months there would be one. Sergio had been there with the first few ones. Every single kid he knew had been excited, but after a few it became old and boring.

And even though a lot of teachers had told the headmaster that, she refused to listen. At least they were raising some money for charity, right?

There was something along the lines of good day before the high pitched sound was back and gone.

“Well,” Sergio chuckled. “what are you all baking this time?” 

The day had gone faster than he had expected, not that he was complaining of course. He graded the lasts tests and was ready to go home when his phone rung. 

To say nobody ever called him, was an understatement. Almost nobody had his phone number, and those who did, never called him. Hence why, even though he was woken up by it, he had picked up Raquel’s phone call.

So with a lot of suspicion he picked up.

“Professor!” Somebody exclaimed through the phone. He froze, his bag falling out of his hand. Without another thought, he hung up.

He wasn’t doing this. He had told them clearly he was leaving, that nobody should even try contacting him. He had left that life a while ago and he never wanted to go back. Especially not now.

Besides, they only were allowed to contact him if there was an emergency. And if there really was one? They would’ve visit him, not call. And definitely not a call from Silene.

Anyways… with his heart beating almost out of his chest, he picked his bag back up. 

But what if there really was an emergency? No! Stop! He shouldn’t go there. He hadn’t thought about them for a while now and he wasn’t going to start now. He was definitely not gonna start now.

But his friends, though- no. 

His phone went off again. Goddammit, her again? But he couldn’t help but glance at his phone while he walked outside.

Wait- this was Raquel.

Without any hesitation he picked.

“Sergio Marquina speaking,” he said in a formal voice, kind of trying to impress her. 

“Raquel Murillo speaking,” she said in a same formal voice, but a giddy undertone, as if she was mocking him. He couldn’t help but smile.  
“Everything alright?” He asked. Raquel chuckled, but he didn’t really know why. It was a genuine question. He stepped into his car.

“I’m fine, Sergio, thanks for asking.” He frowned. Then why was she calling him? There was no reason for her to call him. “I- I was wondering if you maybe liked to come over for coffee, or tea… or wine.” 

Sergio was quiet, completely caught off guard.

“You know, to thank you.” She added. Sergio swallowed. Gathering every ounce of courage he had in his body. He ignored that voice in his head to said that he shouldn’t do it and that is was way over line. 

“Of course, when did you have in mind?” 

When he knocked Wednesday evening on the door of her house, he regretted every decision he had ever made in his life. Dressed in black suit pants, a casual white t-shirt and a bottle of red wine in his hand, he felt stupid.

But who could he blame except himself? And maybe a bit Raquel. She was the one who suggested that evening, just after dinner. Who was he to say no to that?

The door opened, revealing the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. Fuck, why did he agreed to this. She wasn’t wearing spectacular clothes or anything, but she was just really really pretty. She could even rock jeans with a simple blouse on top of it like it was a goddamn ball gown. 

His breath hitched in his throat as she smiled at him. 

“You came.” He was confused at how she sounded so surprised. 

“Of course.” 

She stepped aside, leaving space for him to get in. Wait- should he take his shoes off? She didn’t wear any and none of them probably did in the house. But he was a guest so maybe he should. His shoes were clean… but Raquel probably wanted him to be comfortable. 

“Just take your shoes off,” She laughed as she closed the door. He looked at her with a frown. How did she know? He took her shoes off with a chuckle. Maybe she really was a witch.

She led him through the hallway towards the kitchen. 

“I’ve brought wine,” he said softly, breaking the strangely comfortable silence. She smiled. “My favorite.” 

“Sooooo,” he started, “how have you been holding up?” He felt like a housewife catching up with her girlfriends. Raquel chuckled as she grabbed two wine glasses from the cabinets. 

“I’m fine.” she cast a glance at him. Apparently he was giving her a no you aren’t look. “I really am. Paula is getting happier, too.” 

“I’ve noticed.” 

Sergio was hyper focused on the wine she poured into the glasses. This felt oddly like a date. He caught himself thinking that he did want it to be a date. He really did. He wanted to talk about her life, talk about the things she liked, the things that made her happy. And after an amazing night of getting to know each other he would kiss her at door. A soft kiss, at first, testing if she wanted it and then let her decide what she wanted from him.

He really wanted that.

But he knew she didn’t.

“Sergio?” He looked up at her worried face. “You okay?” he laughed sheepishly and took the glass of wine she handed him.

“Yes, just thinking. Some old friends of mine contacted me today.” Why was he even telling her that? 

“You okay?” She asked, worry in her voice. It was sweet at how she had no idea what happened, who they were or how he felt, she still asked him if he was okay. He smiled and nodded.

“I’m alright, they just caught me off guard.” Raquel nodded slowly, feeling that he didn’t want to talk about it. Which was completely fine.

An awkward silence fell between them.

“Should we sit on the couch?” 

Sergio just followed her, thinking of topics they could talk about. 

“So, do you have any siblings?” He asked as they sat down, a safe distance between them. Raquel hummed.

“Yeah, a sister. She takes care of my mom… she got dementia. You?” 

“Nope,” he lied. “Does she have children?” And after that the conversation flowed natural. They laughed, drunk, talked about some light topics like their view on believe and politics and refilled their glasses a few times. 

“Where’s Paula, actually?” Sergio dared to ask after they laughed quite loud because of some stupid joke Raquel had told him. 

“Sleepover at Barbara’s house.” 

Barbara? But those two hated each other. And on a school night?

“You know, I’m not supposed to have favorites, but Paula is my favorite,” he slurred in a drunken confession. Well, at least for him it was a confession. Raquel smiled at his cuteness. 

“Why?” She took a sip of her wine.

Sergio laughed, even though there was nothing really funny. “She reminds me of you, Raquel,” he slurred her name.

If Raquel wasn’t as drunk as Sergio right now, she would’ve changed the subject, not move closer to him. But who could blame her? This was the first time a man made her feel like this in a long time. It was intoxicating. The way he smiled. The way he laughed. It was addictive.

Sergio swallowed, noticing that Raquel had moved closer. She was gorgeous in this dim living room lightning.

“Have you ever been in love?” She whispered, her voice smooth. Sergio closed his eyes for a second, drowning in her voice. 

“No, not really,” he said in the same tone as her, but his voice was more a breath than kept together and smooth. When he opened his eyes, she looked right into them. 

They were breathtaking.

“Let me be your first,” she muttered. Her hand found his neck. He swallowed, nodding slowly. He wanted her to be his first real love. 

She bit her lip suggestively. His breath hitched in his throat as she pulled him closer. It was like she was gravity and all Sergio could do was let him be pulled towards it. 

He cast a glance at her lips. They looked so delicious and he wanted nothing more than to taste them.

So he leaned forward, searching for eye contact.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered against her lips, his breath hitting them. She opened them slightly.

“Mom?” 

They jumped away from each other, looking at the source. Well, fuck.

“Paula!” She suddenly felt sober all again. What just happened?

“Uhm- there was booze and Barbara’s mom found out- What is mr. Marquina doing here?” Or better, what was he doing so close to her mom? She looked confused between the two. Both their cheeks were bright red and they avoided looking at each other.

What was mr. Marquina actually doing there? This had been a mistake, Sergio was sure of it. 

“I gotta go,” he said, standing up. He felt embarrassed. This was exactly what he wasn’t supposed to do. It was as if his feet were moving without him actually thinking about it. Autopilot went on without another thought. “Good evening, Paula.” He turned his head around to look Raquel straight in the eyes. “Bye, miss Murillo.” 

And he left the house, his shoes in his hands and the door closing behind him.

For a minute he hoped that the door would swing open, revealing a determined Raquel. He imagined her grabbing him and kissing him senseless.

But then he remembered she was drunk and that she didn’t want him, she was just simply starved for comfort. 

With tears welling up in his eyes, he stepped into his car. He knew he had drunk too much, but he couldn’t care less as he started the car. He needed to get out of here.

It was absolutely horrible at how this felt like a break up. It was just finally hitting him that he was all alone. He had nobody. And now matter how much he enjoyed being alone, he wanted it back. He got a little taste of how it was, being in a family, and he had thrown it all away like the idiot he was.

Tears were blurring his vision as he kept driving. 

He convinced himself that he never wanted Raquel, he wanted comfort, he wanted to be touched, he wanted to be love. He didn’t want Raquel.

“You don’t want Raquel,” he screamed inside his car, ignoring the red light. He repeated it over and over in his head, ignoring the honking. 

And against all odds, he made it safe to his apartment. He made it safe inside. He made it safe to his bed. He fell safely in sleep. And he dreamed about him and Raquel on the beach, laughing and talking, his heart safe with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii, i would actually really like your feedback not gonna lie. Also, would you rather have chapters that are around this length and every day an update, or every two or three days an update but longer chapters? Hopefully 'till tomorrow, bye :))


	8. a kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, all i'm gonna say is that this is quite an interesting chapter annddddd sorry for the grammar mistakes.

The thing he regretted the most was that it happened on a school night and that was alarming. Even though he had been really drunk, he remembered every little detail, from the way her hair fell in front of her eyes to the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed so beautifully loud.

Fuck. He got it bad.

He turned his head to look at the clock on his bedside table. Weird, he hadn’t been woken up by his alarm- 

It was already 10:52 a.m. He had his first class in not more than 8 minutes. With the worst headache ever, he stood up, noticing he was still wearing the same thing as the night before. He quickly hopped in the shower, trying to get rid of that horrible alcohol smell while brushing his teeth furiously. 

With the speed of lightning he grabbed his clothes, putting them on while trying to walk towards the kitchen, tripping a few times. In desperate need for a cup of coffee, he started his machine, already placing a cup underneath it. Buttoning his shirt up right he searched for his bag to put his laptop and other necessities in.

With his coffee finally ready, he grabbed his tie, bag, jacket and rushed downstairs, trying not to spill coffee anywhere. He threw his bag on the passenger's seat and set his cup down. He glanced at himself for a second in the rearview mirror.

God, he was a mess. He should’ve trimmed his beard a bit and maybe combed his hair. But no time to dwell on that because, he looked at the car clock, he was already five minutes late and he still had to drive ten minutes.

Within seven minutes he was on the school parking lot. He gulped down the hot coffee, wincing slightly, and grabbed his bag and tie. While trying to tie his dark red tie he stumbled inside the building, the bag swinging annoyingly in the way.

Based on the chatter from far away, it was his class who were already inside. Well, that was at least good.

“But he’s never late.” He heard when he came closer. He walked into the class, finally having his tie tied the right way. The door closed behind him with a loud bang, startling him.

Fuck this headache was worse than he thought. 

He didn’t even wish his class a goodmorning. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, finally looking at them- fuck, this was Paula’s class. It had completely left his mind. He locked eyes with Paula for a second.

She knew the reason why he looked so absolutely terrible today.

“Had a good night, sir?” The class clown quipped. Sergio let his eyes roam the class before locking them with Brad...

“Do I look like I had a good night?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Get your stuff ready, we’re gonna start.” 

“Are you in love with Paula’s mom?” Barbara dared to ask. He stiffened. What did she just ask? He snapped his head towards her. 

“What did you just ask, Barbara?” 

“Because I’ve heard from Paula-” She interrupted with a fast shut up. “-that you are. And that she definitely wouldn’t mind you to be her father.” 

“Excuse me?” He said, not in the mood for this. His head was thumping and there was this loud high pitched sound ringing in his ear. Barbara opened her mouth to repeat the same sentence but Sergio was absolutely fed up with it.

“Leave the classroom, right now.” The class went completely silent, nobody dared to even breath. 

“But sir-”

“Leave, Barbara.” He pointed at the door, holding eye contact with her. She slowly stood up, grabbed her bag and walked away, her head hanging low.

“Now, if anybody has to say anything more about my night last night, they can follow Barbara.” It was silent. “No? Good. Now we’ll start.” 

It was the longest period ever. He winced when the loud shrill of the bell announced it was finally over. 

Without any word, the class walked away. 

“Mr. Marquina?” He was startled by Paula’s voice. He didn’t knew that she stayed behind. He looked up. She was the only one left. Oh how he wanted her to leave. 

“Yes?” 

“Were you about to kiss my mother last night?” Sergio swallowed. Hadn’t it been obvious?

“I was, yes.” For the first time, he admitted it. Paula nodded slowly. “We were drunk, it wasn’t appropriate. Besides, the last thing your mother want is, well, me. It was a mistake and I promise you that it would never ever happen again.” 

Paula nodded again, very slowly. There was something on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t say it. Instead she simply said okay and walked towards the door. Sergio focused back on the laptop in front of him.

“Mr. Marquina?” He looked. She stood by the door, looking at him with a look he couldn’t quite decipher. He hummed, curious what she was about to say. “I wouldn’t mind.” 

It took him a whole period and fifteen minutes to realize what she meant. He stood at a stall where a student of him was placing some cupcakes when it hit him. She was talking about him and Raquel being an item.

His stomach turned pleasantly warm.

“Mr. Marquina?” He turned around, surprised to see Barbara. “I’m sorry.” He smiled, pushing his glass back on his nose. 

“It’s fine. I’m sorry I sent you away.” She nodded and walked away.

His headache had disappeared a while ago. Maybe this day was turning out to be better than expected. 

The school hallways were slowly filling itself with parents and students. Some classrooms were even used for the different goodies. Maybe these baking sales weren’t too bad. Maybe.

But then he saw Raquel, so maybe not. She was walking over to Paula’s little stall she shared with Barbara, holding a bag.

He was just about to turn around and practically run away when Paula saw him. “Mr. Marquina!” She exclaimed through the noisy hallways. He could ignore her and just walk away, but then he got eye contact with Raquel and he knew he couldn’t anymore.

With heavy steps he walked towards them, Raquel avoiding look at him. 

“Yes Paula?” He stopped a safe distance from Raquel, who even stepped aside. That did sting just a little bit. Oh how he wished to stand next to her, maybe even place his hand on her back, just to touch her. But he couldn’t.

“Could you watch our stall? Barbs and I have to go the toilet.” Before he knew it, they were gone. He still questioned since when they were friends, but that wasn’t really important because now he was kind of alone with Raquel in the middle of this huge crowd. They stood next to each other, not facing the other.

“Hey,” he said, daring to glance at her. She looked at him, too, smiling like a teenager.

Wait- so she didn’t hate him?

“Hey.” 

“I’m sorry, for last night. It was a mistake. We were drunk,” He rushed out. She chuckled.

“Hammered, yeah.” 

So not only did she remembered, she agreed. Even though he was the one that said it was a mistake, it still hurt that she felt the exact same way. See, he had been right all along. Raquel didn’t want him.

“Are we good?” She dared to ask, she suddenly sounded nervous. Why?

“Of course.” 

“Good, because I would’ve missed talking to you. This is a great start of a good friendship.”

“Yes, friendship,” he confirmed, his heart sinking in his chest. They turned around to finally face each other. “Can we do it again?” He asked. She raised an eyebrow. “The talking, maybe over coffee this time?” She chuckled and nodded. It was clear she wanted it, too. “I promise not to make a move on you.” 

She swallowed. Her next words were strangely forced. “And I promise to not make a move on you ever again.”

Ever again…

He forced a smile. 

“How was the headache this morning?” He asked, avoiding an awkward silence. She sighed.

“Absolutely horrible-” 

“We’re back!” Paula announced loudly, getting some attention from some of her peers. Sergio smiled at her. 

“Am I allowed to leave now, miss Murillo?” He asked her, making the air around them a bit lighter. Paula grinned and nodded. 

“You are, mr. Marquina.” 

“Professor! There you are!” He stiffened, his mind shutting down. He was turned around forcefully, coming face to face with a woman he rather didn’t want to see.

She pulled him in and kissed him.

_“Don’t ever contact me,” he said, his voice demanding. “Only when there is a real emergency. Like someone is actually dying.”_

_“I’ll kiss you when that will happen, professor,” Tokyo said laughing, hiding the fact that she was sad that he was actually leaving._

It was hard, unpleasant and short. She pulled back, looking him into the eye with this determined look. His mouth twitched. Out of habit he pushed his glasses back on his nose with finger.

“How serious?” 

“Pretty serious.” 

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the hallways, leaving him no choice but to just follow her. He didn’t even spare a glance in Raquel’s direction.

She pulled him away from the crowd and into an empty classroom. Yet, it wasn’t that empty.

It was silent as Tokyo walked back to the group. He looked around. Tokyo, Nairobi, Helsinki, Denver, Rio and even Stockholm. But he was most surprised by Palermo. 

It felt weird, being in one room with them again. He had strangely missed this. He wanted to know what they’ve been up to, what was keeping them busy these days. Where they still together in a group?

“What are you doing here? How did you found them?” He questioned, not even saying hello. If felt weird to just say hello after all these years, so he didn’t.

“Hello to you too, Sergio.” He stiffened. Why did he have to do that? 

“You don’t have the right to even call me that.”

“After you let Berlin be killed like that, I am.” To say that didn’t stung, would be a big fat lie. It wasn’t as if his brother’s death didn’t hurt him at all. Sergio walked over to him, ready to slap him right there and then. Palermo had no right to bring back those memories.

“You know it was not my choice-” 

“Your brother is alive, professor,” Nairobi interrupted, not wanting Palermo to be slapped right across the face.

He stopped in his tracks. What did she just say? He looked at her, then back at Palermo, who for once wasn’t looking at him with a jerkish smile. 

“He’s being tortured and held in a secret prison somewhere far from here. We gotta save him and I know how, but I need you, Sergio.” 

He stepped back. It felt like everything had been a lie. Andres was- he was- he was alive.

“I- I can’t,” he muttered.

“Sergi-” he shook his head, stopping Palermo to even finish that word. 

“You’ll have to find someone el-” 

“We need you. Don’t turn your back on us. He’s your brother.” Rio was the one to talk now, not Palermo. The professor frowned. He hated how he was right. Why was he even saying no like this?

“I can’t just leave my life here behind.” But he was already sounding unsure of it.

“You’re just a history teacher,” Tokyo chuckled. 

“I’m content here.” Palermo walked over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“But are you? Don’t you miss the thrill, don’t you miss the game?” He looked at him like he didn’t really have choice but to work with them.

He looked Palermo right in the eyes. Could he be right? He knew that ever since the last heist, there had been something missing. But was it the thrill? Was it the chess? Wasn’t it just love? Not like he knew anything about that.

But- if he left with them, he would throw away every chance he had with Raquel. She had made it clear they were just friends, though. But even then, he would lose her. He would lose his students, his place at this school. And, yeah, even if he wouldn’t be caught, he couldn’t get back here, it wouldn’t be right.

It wouldn’t be right.

He could only see flashes of Raquel laughing, looking at him, talking to him. Then, he saw flashes of his own brother, laughing, talking. In theory it should’ve been easy. He should’ve said yes, gladly. But there was something holding him back, rather someone. The thought that he might actually could be happy with just Raquel in his life, thrilled him more than the heist at the Royal Mint ever did.

“Sergio?” Palermo shook him out of his thoughts. 

“I can’t, I’m sorry.” He shrugged off Palermo’s numb hands and walked out of the classroom. 

Was it true, though? Was Andres really alive? Because if it was, he should save him.

He regretted leaving the room more and more with every step he took towards his office. He needed to get out of this building.

“Ah mr. Marquina! I was looking for you.” He was still in the empty hallways when the principal found him. “All the cameras in the building and neighbourhood shut down. Please look out for some weird people.” Of course they were, he expected nothing less from his team. Well, they weren’t his team anymore...

He smiled and nodded, walking away from her without another word. He felt like breaking down right there and then. 

He was in luck that he didn’t have to walk through the people filled ones. Actually, he didn’t really care about that. He didn’t want to see Raquel or Paula. 

He stopped dead in his track as he saw Raquel standing in front of his office, dressed in a simple dark grey suit. What was she doing? He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t face her. Not now. 

“Sergio!” She exclaimed when she saw him, a worried undertone in her voice. Fuck, why did she had to do this. He walked towards her, not saying a word. “Are you alright?” He walked past her into the office, not daring to look her into the eyes, damn well knowing they were shining with tears.

“Sergio?” She tried to get his attention, only getting more worried. It became too much. Everything became too much. The thought of his brother being tortured for four years now, became too much. 

Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he looked up at her. She took a step back, surprised at seeing him cry.

“Nothing is ever what it seems like, Raquel,” he said, his voice wavering. He shoved his laptop in his bag without looking. 

“What are you talking about? Who was that? Are you alright?” Too. Many. Questions.

“Just- remember, please,” he begged her, “that nothing is ever what it seems like.” He left her behind with those words. She had never been more confused in her live, and for the second time in less than 24 hours, she let him walk away again. And for the second time, she regretted it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a lot of plans :))) and thank you for all your comments!! I don't reply to a lot but trust me I read every one of them and they make me really happy! So thank you very much. And i'm just gonna continue with the every day an upload and a bit shorter chapters. See you hopefully tomorrow :)


	9. Wanna borrow a shirt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I don't know about you guys but for me it's still the 20th of may, so its still a daily upload and i havent forgotten one yet hehehehehe.... anywayssssss it's late, i'm tired, there are definitely gonna be some grammar mistakes, please correct them if so, and enjoy!

It was the second time in his four years of teaching he ever had called in sick. And the first time had just been a week prior. He hated how his life was turning upside down. All he wanted to do was forget what Nairobi had told him, wake up and teach.

But he couldn’t even get out of bed.

He laid there on the Friday morning, his head filled with thoughts.

God, how he wanted to be with Raquel right now. It was like he physically needed to tell her everything. To confess to the crimes that happened long ago. That it was him who was behind the biggest heist in history, yet. 

Not that she would ever believe him. In her eyes, he was just a simple, innocent, history teacher. He wasn’t one of the most wanted criminals of the country. Looking back on it, he was glad Raquel wasn’t put in the position to lead back then. She was smart. She would’ve find out who he was, who everyone was. He was glad that there was an idiot of an inspector leading.

Yet, they killed Berlin, his own brother. It got dirty at the end. He stayed behind. But apparently he was caught. He was caught and Sergio hadn’t known the entire time. He should’ve known, but he had wanted to leave the criminal scene so fast. First his father, then his brother. He couldn’t help it, the need to leave had been to big.

It was only late late late Friday night when he got out of bed, and that was only to pee. He didn’t go out for some water or food ‘till saturday afternoon. He was so lost in thoughts, he just- he couldn’t. 

He was surprised that some people had actually called him, but he hadn’t picked up. Not even when he saw it was Raquel. 

When Monday morning came around and he had just called in sick, again, he realized that he needed to take some action. He decided what he was going to do, but he needed to prepare for it. So he took everything out of his old, carton boxes and refreshed his memory.

If he was going to save his brother, he had to do it good. 

He ignored Raquel’s face who spooked around in his head while he tried to remember every little detail he, his brother and Palermo had once gone over. It was risky, it was difficult, but they needed to pull off the hardest and biggest heist in history yet again.

He went on some old computers to find out if his brother is actually alive and after hours and hours off searching through evidence of his death and/or capture, he found what he searched for.

His brother was indeed alive.

He let himself cry for the first time in a few days.

Disappointed was understatement for what he felt towards himself. This was absolutely horrible. He needed to call Palermo right now, or Tokyo, or anyone. He needed to let them know he was in. After the millions of calls he got from them this weekend, this was important. 

It was already dark when he searched up their number. It was then that he realized they actually thought about this and used burner phones. He needed to find another way to contact them.

The bell rung.

Sergio raised an eyebrow and pushed his glasses back on his nose. Who could this possibly be? Nobody, except for the principal, knew where he lived. Or it could be Palermo! He rushed towards the door.

He opened the door, already ready to say he was in, but surprised to see Raquel standing there.

“Sergio!” She pulled him close and hugged him without another thought. He hesitantly hugged her back. What was she doing here? “I’m sorry I came here unannounced,” she whispered in his shoulder.

She sounded stressed, sad, worried.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, carefully stroking her back. She pulled away, looking at him with tears in her eyes. He immediately led her further inside and closed the door, completely forgetting that his kitchen table was filled with papers and that there were four different laptops open.

“What happened to you?” She asked, wiping the tears in her eyes away while eyeing the mess.

Shit.

He rushed towards it, gathering the papers and putting them on the edge of the table, closing the laptops without another thought. 

“Just- catching up with some work,” he said confidently. He definitely didn’t feel that way, though. “Want some coffee?” He asked, looking at her with an innocent smile. She shook her head. He swallowed. He was glad that he decided to actually dress himself that day into some casual pants and t-shirt. 

“What’s wrong?” He decided to ask. Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong and she was indeed just really worried about him, but it certainly didn’t feel like that was the case.

“Paula is gone.” He frowned, not fully understanding what that meant. “She didn’t came home Friday afternoon and there’s absolutely no trace of her anywhere. It’s like- It’s like she got kidnapped by a ghost.” Raquel just stood there, looking Sergio right in the eyes.

Here she was, a woman Sergio didn’t know for more than a week or two, telling him her daughter got kidnapped.

And even though he was horrible at reading emotions, he saw how broken she was.

“And she would never just- just run away, you know. That just isn’t Paula. I know for sure she got kidnapped. The- the uh police,” she had trouble speaking, finding the right words, even breathing. “they think that uh- if she’s not back tomorrow, that she might be… dead.” 

And she broke down in tears. Sergio rushed over to her and held her in his arms as her shoulders shook violently. She cried muffled in his shoulder, her arms snaking around his waist. 

God, Paula got kidnapped? 

Why was this happening all at once? Suddenly, without any warning, his life became much more hectic. 

“We’ll find her,” Sergio whispered in her hair, stroking her back hesitantly. He had no idea how to do this, what to even say. Yet, somehow, he knew. He knew exactly what to say when she was in his arms. “I promise.” 

She looked up at him, not taking a step back. Her eyes were red and swollen and her nose was wet. She looked disgusting and absolutely magnificent. He wanted to kiss her so badly.

“We?” She whispered, looking him straight in the eyes. He swallowed and slowly nodded. Her hands pulled him closer, snuggling her head further into his shoulder as she hugged him tighter. The fuzzy feeling in his stomach returned.

“Thank you,” she said, well, at least that’s what he could make out of it. 

“I haven’t done anything, yet,” he whispered back, just holding her. She hummed. They just stood there for a while, completely fine with just spending the rest of eternity together like that. He tried so hard to push away every feeling he got from her, but he failed miserably.

He wanted to be with her for the rest of eternity.

“Have you eaten anything yet?” She asked. He shook his head, knowing she could feel him. She looked up at him, standing a bit further away but still so close. Her scent was intoxicated and it felt like he was drugged by it.

“When was the last time?” He looked at her as he muttered the words yesterday. “Are you sure you’re fine?” They held eye contact in the dim light room. It felt intimate and so natural.

He just pulled her back into a hug, not wanting to answer the questions. 

This was exactly why he doubted. He knew he had to save his brother, he really didn’t have much of choice. He did not only need to, he wanted it. He loved his brother more than anything in the world, it was no surprise he had been devastated when everyone had made it out alive except for Andrés. Sergio would save his brother no matter what.

But holding Raquel like this, he knew he was gonna miss this. He knew he was gonna miss out on his only opportunity of some kind of love. And even if she would never feel the same for him, he wouldn’t care, as long as she would just be in his life.

He finally understood his brother. He finally understood all his marriages, his busy love life, because this feeling right here? It was amazing and he never wanted to ever give it up.

“Let me make you something to eat, alright?” 

Sergio nodded thankfully. She was an amazing woman. As he watched her walk to the kitchen, opening some random cabinets, he realized that this was indeed what love felt like. 

Fuck.

She suddenly stopped moving, turning towards him. “I’m sorry if I’m interfering- I can actually leave if you want to-” 

“Raquel,” he began, “we’re friends,” he said with pain in his heart, “you can always come here.” She smiled, avoiding his eyes. 

“Pasta?” She asked, holding up a bag of pasta. The tension between them slowly ebbed away. He leaned against a wall as he watched her search for some pans and sauce.  
“Did they ask you to leave?” He asked, confused and curious why she wasn’t searching for her daughter at the moment. Even though he didn’t know Raquel very well, yet, he did know that even if there was a dead end, she wouldn’t have stopped on her own.

She chuckled, but it sounded hollow and empty. It was painfully obvious how she missed her daughter.. 

“Yeah, they did. Ángel did, he brought me here. I can come back tomorrow to help find her again.” He was silent, not quite knowing what to say. “Honestly, I’m really sorry I came here,” she said, ignoring the look Sergio gave her. “I just- I can’t go home. I can’t go home because there are too much memories. I just need some distraction. And, well, I was kinda worried about you. You haven’t answered any of my calls so I thought why not visit-” 

“Raquel, it’s okay, really. I completely understand.” 

“You do?” 

He swallowed. “I do. A few years ago- uhm somebody I loved dearly disappeared. So I moved. I just couldn’t stand being there.” Raquel nodded slowly as she continued her cooking.

“Your girlfriend?” 

He choked on his saliva. “My girlfriend? I don’t have one. I never really had one.” Raquel looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Who was that woman then?” 

What woman? What was she even talking abou- oh, Tokyo. 

“That was nothing important,” he rushed out, not wanting to talk about it. Luckily, Raquel seemed to realize that and changed to subject to something light. 

When they were both silently eating the best pasta Sergio ever had, he decided to ask something quite bold. “Wanna sleep here tonight?” Raquel almost choked on her red wine. He nervously pushed his glasses back on his nose as he continued eating. “You know,” he mumbled, “so you don’t have to go home. I can even bring you to the police station tomorrow.” 

Raquel looked at him for a second. He wished he could just look into her mind for a second. It was almost painful not knowing what she was thinking. 

“Alright, that sounds good.” He sighed relieved, nodding in agreement. That did sound good, yeah. 

It was already 11:00 a.m. when they drank their last glass of wine, just before going to bed. 

Fortunately, they weren’t drunk this time.

“How are you actually planning on helping?” Sergio laughed quietly in his glass. 

“I have many talents, Raquel, and finding people is one of them.” The inspectora realized that there was much more to discover of the mysterious man next to her. She wouldn’t mind discovering them at all.

They both finished their wine. 

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he announced. Raquel stared at him for a second, kind of only then realizing that she had nothing to sleep in, nor did she have a toothbrush. 

“No you’re not.” Sergio frowned. Why was she even arguing about this? She had no choice but to sleep in his bed. He wouldn’t let her sleep on the couch, not when this with Paula was happening. She should get a good night of sleep.

And he rather wanted to have back pains in the morning than she. 

“You should get a good night sleep,” he said back, making sure there was no room for any argument. He knew that nobody would argue with him like his former team, but Raquel didn’t care.

“Just because I’m here intruding doesn’t mean you should get a bad night of sleep, too.” He grabbed their glasses, walking towards the kitchen, indicating that the argument was over. “No, I’m not done,” She said, following him closely. 

“Yes we are. I’m not gonna let you sleep on the couch.” He placed the glasses in the dishwasher. 

“Then we both sleep in the bed.” 

Everything he did stopped, even his heartbeat. What did she just say? He slowly looked up at her. She had the audacity to look so fucking innocent right now. It took absolutely everything in him to not kiss her right then and there. 

The mere thought of sleeping with Raquel in one bed made him more nervous than he had ever been.

“What’s the big deal?” She went on after he stayed silent. “We’re friends. There is not special about sleeping in one bed together. It’s only for one night. So why shouldn’t we? I only see perks, no cons.” 

He still didn’t talk.

“Only if you want to, of course” 

Of course he wanted it.

There was one con though, he thought, He wasn’t sure if he could control himself. One night could cost them their friendship. Well, if he was going to participate in their next plan, it was going to cost their friendship too. The little romantic in him encouraged him to just say yes. Because what was the big deal.

“Sure, it’s fine. You’re right. Wanna borrow a shirt?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only now realize that my chapter titles say absolutely nothing about the chapter and takes everything out of context... we stan. Anywayssss hope you enjoyed. If u want u can always comment :) See you tomorrow, I'll try to be a bit earlier with the update then.


	10. Not again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's half past 11, so technically it's still the same day. I'm tired, i wrote this chapter in like idk way too fast and it sucks but like meh idk dont hate me... enjoy! Oh and and and sorry for any grammar mistakes.

Honestly, he had thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, seeing a woman in his shirt. He had never seen any girlfriends of him in his shirts, not that you could call them girlfriends, but still. Watching Raquel walking out of the bathroom in his shirt and mismatched old pajama pants, he felt like he couldn’t breath. 

“I- I uh the uhm alarm goes off at 6:30 if that’s alright?” He asked carefully as she walked over to the bed. He had already positioned himself on the right side, wearing his old men pajamas. Raquel chuckled.

“That’s perfect.”

It felt very domestic as she climbed into bed. He laid down too, taking his glasses off. He looked at her. “Everything okay?” She swallowed and looked at him for a second, but then nodded. He turned around, switching the light off.

His heartbeat became irregular at the thought of how close she actually was. He laid back down, his back turned towards her. There was in no universe a way where he would turn around and look at her. No matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn’t. Not that she blamed him for it, because she couldn’t turn around too.

It felt like it an eternity had already past before Sergio said something.

“Are you still awake?” It was a low whisper, one that wouldn’t wake her up but would definitely hear if she was still awake.

“No,” she teased, she sounded clear awake, not even sleepy.

He turned around to lay on his back and she copied his movements with no hesitation, as if she had been ready the whole time.

“I just- if you’re uncomfortable with uhm a man laying so close to you I can move to the couch.” He was clearly indicating if she had flashbacks. Raquel swallowed, shaking her head, but only then realizing it was pitch dark so he couldn’t see it.

She knew that maybe with any other man she couldn’t do this, but Sergio was different. 

And especially with her not knowing where Paula was, she didn’t really have that much time to think about Alberto. She had a lot of different stuff going on at that moment. She felt unsafe, alone and she was just straight up scared.

Paula’s smile haunted her mind again. 

“Sergio?” she whispered. They had already been quiet for a while. He turned his head towards her.

“Yeah?” 

“I’m gonna do something and uhm if you’re not comfortable with it, just push me away.” And of course his stupid, innocent, oblivious brain couldn’t figure out what she meant with that, so he kept quiet.

And then he felt her arms around him, her leg pulled up on his and her head on his chest, hugging him tightly.

Oh… _oh._

He definitely was comfortable with that. He swallowed, not saying another word as he relaxed in her arms, one arm even hugging her back. It didn’t take long for both of them to fall asleep. 

Sergio woke up a few minutes before the alarm, glad to find him spooning Raquel close. Her chest was rising slowly up and down as she snuggled even closer to him. Without him even knowing, he smiled peacefully. He wished he could wake up like this everyday.

He accepted his feelings for Raquel at this point. He wasn’t some stupid teenager who was oblivious for his own feelings. Even though he hadn’t ever felt like this before, he had heard enough people describe how it felt. And this feeling matched it perfectly. 

He wasn’t sure if it was really love, yet, but there was definitely something there.

Was he misusing the situation? Just a little bit. He assumed that Raquel had hugged him last night just because she was lonely and needed somebody and he was just there right place right time. Was he now not leaving her side while she was asleep just so he could dream about them a little bit longer? Yes, definitely yes.

He looked over her shoulder, noticing that just in a minute the alarm would go off. Not wanting her to be uncomfortable, he moved away from her. Sadly, she let him. 

The alarmed beeped her awake. She was the one to turn it off, groaning in the process. He chuckled slowly, already getting out of bed, wanting to avoid the awkward goodmorning talk in bed.

“Good morning to you, too,” She said as Sergio almost made a beeline towards the bathroom. It wasn’t really hard to understand why, though. Seeing Raquel waking up in his clothes, he just knew he wasn’t able to handle that. Yet, the way her voice rasped made him turn his head around.

And oh how he had been right. Her hair was all over the place, her eyes not even fully open yet. His own t-shirt was too big on her, it had moved and showed one whole naked shoulder. And that smile. It was just so pure and innocent and he wanted to kiss those lips so so so bad.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice low and raspy. What must she think of him? He sounded horrible. She tilted her head at him, smiling slightly. There was this look in her eyes, but he had no idea what it meant. It was some mix between maybe… adoration and, no, she was probably just sleepy. Yeah, it was a sleepy look. “I’m gonna shower.” And without another word, he fled into the bathroom.

What was she doing to him?

Underneath the shower, he decided it was best to stop thinking about Raquel for a second. Even though it was hard, he managed. Especially because he had a lot of other things on his mind, too. For example, how the hell was he going to find not only Paula but also rescue his brother with the biggest heist ever. The choice to save his brother had been rather challenging, but this was just painful.

He couldn’t just leave now. He had to find Paula. This was an innocent child who might’ve been abducted. For all they know she was being raped every single day. 

His brother, though… he was being tortured for four years now.

But Paula was still a child! 

But Andrés was his brother.

Why did this have to happen now? Why couldn’t it just- never happened. That would be perfect. If all of this hadn’t happened, it would’ve been absolutely perfect.

Yet, he didn’t regret doing the heist. He had not only met some wonderful people, got a big sum of money, but he had also carried out his father's plan. It had been some kind of legacy. He guessed this was some kind of karma. 

He turned off the shower, getting out and drying himself off, lost in thoughts.

Just when he made a choice, it became harder. 

He zipped up his pants and grabbed his blouse. He walked out of the bathroom, slowly putting his blouse on. While buttoning it up, he strolled to the kitchen. An amazing smell filled the room and he looked confused up, his hands still on the buttons.

Raquel was making pancakes, still dressed in the big pajama pants and his t-shirt. His heart became warm at the sight. She stared at him, licking her lips. He frowned, not sure why she did that. 

“I hope this uh that uhm that this is okay?” He immediately nodded. This was more than okay.

She stared at him for a second, completely mesmerized, before turning back to the pancakes. He wasn’t sure why. His hair was a wet mess and his blouse not even tucked in his pants nor buttoned up. He assumed she was trying not to laugh out loud at how ridiculous he looked.

Something shifted in the air between them. Neither one of them knew exactly what, but they both felt it. They felt it in the way they moved so naturally with one another, in the way the silences were nothing more than comfortable, in the way they had to say absolutely nothing to know what the other one was going to do.

It scared Sergio, yet he never wanted it to stop. It was as if this was exactly what he was missing in his life.

For a second, he doubted his choice to save his brother. But only for a second, because it was still his brother. 

They ate their pancakes, got themselves ready and made their way to Sergio’s expensive car. 

“Nice car,” was all she said. But even Sergio noticed that she was very curious about why he was driving such a nice car. Maybe that was the only thing that made him suspicious, he thought. Why would a simple history teacher own a car like that?

But then again, he was a simple history teacher so why would anyone suspect him of robbing a bank, or worse, being the mastermind behind the biggest heist ever.

Anyway, they drove to the police station in silence. Only when it was time for goodbye, did Sergio say something.

“If you uhm don’t wanna go home tonight you can come over again… if you want to of course.” The tension between them had never been so big. Since the moment something had shifted between them, Sergio had wanted nothing more than to kiss her. And now, on the precinct’s parking lot, he still wanted to kiss her.

“That would actually be great, thanks. Maybe you can show me your people searching skills.” Without thinking, she playfully laid her hand on his shoulder. His mind shut down and his heartbeat sped up.

He turned his head slowly towards the hand, not even fully realizing he was being so obvious about it. He looked back up at Raquel, who was staring at him, probably a bit horrified with what she was doing.

The air between them was thick and heavy. Absolutely the opposite of what it was just minutes prior. Her eyes flickered between his lips and his eyes. Sergio wasn’t blind, he definitely had caught that. Had that been an accident? Or- maybe- maybe not.

He knew he was going to regret every move he was about to make, but he couldn’t care less. He needed to do it. This was the moment. He might never have a chance like this again. He leaned slowly towards her, keeping eye contact in case she was absolutely disgusted by the mere thought of it.

But she wasn’t. No, the opposite actually. She leaned towards him, too, her hand slowly cupping his cheek. They were really about to kiss, again, but this time they weren’t drunk. They weren’t intoxicated. Raquel actually wanted him, too.

Everything but her became blurry. He had only eyes for her and her lips. He couldn’t believe it when he felt her breath hitting his lips. He closed his eyes, wanting to enjoy every single second of it-

There was a loud knock on the window.

Fuck, not again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope u liked it :) imma sleep now goodnight


	11. asking me out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I failed. Its 1:34 a.m. while im writing this. It has been pretty rough lately, I'm really really tired, but I couldn't sleep knowing I didn't update. I didn't have a chapter ready, so I wrote this. I know I could've made it longer, of course I could've, but I decided not to. Yeah the chapter isn't even 1000 words long (748) but I'm just really tired. Anyway, sorry for the grammar mistakes.

Driving towards school, Sergio was kind of glad that Ángel had interrupted them. Of course, he was totally and utterly confused, but also kind of glad. For the first time, he couldn’t even believe the excuse he made for her behavior. 

They spent the whole night together, cuddling like there was no tomorrow. Of course Raquel had thought he wanted a kiss or something.

And even to Sergio, that sounded absurd. He knew, deep down he knew, that Raquel liked him just as much as he liked her, but he wasn’t ready to admit that just yet. So, even though for the first time he knew he was lying to himself, he made the choice to believe his own lies. Sometimes, that’s for the better.

He pushed Raquel to the back of his mind. Paula and Berlin were more important than his stupid crush. 

Wait, he had a class to teach. That was pretty important, too. Actually, it really didn’t.

He loved teaching, don’t get him wrong, but it sounded so boring at the moment. He wanted to get his laptops and go on a massive search for Paula. He wanted to prepare some robbery or heist again. He wanted to play a game of chess again.

He had no interest in standing in front of a class talking about history. 

While walking into the school, he had still half an hour before his first class of the day started. With every step he took, he knew it was going to be a long day. Especially with every co-worker mentioning the fact he wasn’t at school for two whole days, worrying about him. Of course, it was sweet, but he didn’t want to hear any of it.

He walked by Paula’s locker, stopping when he saw a poster hanging. A missing poster.

A child was actually missing. Paula was actually missing.

He knew this wasn’t uncommon. Lot’s of children go missing each year, but he always had the privilege of never knowing one. He couldn't even begin to imagine the stress and worry Raquel had.

A co-worker walked up to him. “Sad isn’t it?” He looked over his shoulder. Ah, the english teacher Quinn, he had actually no idea what her last name was. She was a fairly pretty redhead with this big blue eyes, around the same age as he was. “The girl,” she elaborated as he didn’t say anything. “Isn’t she in one of your classes?” 

He looked back at the poster and nodded.

“Yeah, sweet girl is it.” Sergio really hoped she would notice by the tone in his voice how he didn’t want to talk to her, but apparently, she didn’t. 

“Wanna go out sometime?” She rushed out. He raised a single eyebrow. Did she just- did she just ask him out? He turned his head around towards her. She was looking quite nervous. “They said you were single,” She added hesitantly. He had no idea who ‘they’ were, but frankly, he didn’t care.

This was the first time a woman had ever asked him out. Okay, that’s not true. Some women had, a long time ago. But that was usual because they were just drunk, not because they actually thought he was attractive or nice or interesting.

But she did?

“I’m in love with someone,” he said, not even thinking about how true that actually was. She didn’t say anything, obviously wanting the ground beneath her to just suck her up. “Not in a relationship, but not available either.” Because she said nothing, he had no idea what to do. Should he just walk away? Keep talking?

But then he remembered it really wasn’t his problem. He had a lot of other things going on and wondering how to reject a beautiful woman, wasn’t one of them. So he said goodbye, have a nice day, and walked away.

The only real highlight of his day was when Raquel had sent him a sweet text asking how his day was, but that was about it. Luckily the students had been behaving decent that day. Probably because a fellow student got kidnapped and that’s pretty intense. 

His phone rung. Hoping it was Raquel calling, he immediately picked up. He wanted it to be Raquel so bad. It was weird how he was already missing her mere presence. He had the question how was your day going on the tip of his tongue when he was met with a distorted voice. 

“Sergio Marquina, we have Paula.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you at least enjoyed every 748 words of it... i hope ya'll arent too mad for this short chapter. I'll try to write a longer one when I wake up, but like I said, it's not going all too well right now. Oh! I did wrote the entire plan down with two different endings, not sure which one is gonna happen, but for what I know now, this fanfic is far from over.


	12. a nap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy sooo am i late with the upload? Yeah... did I make it up to you by finally giving you what you wanted? maybe ;) anyway, sorry for the grammar mistakes and the sentences that suck.

“Sergio Marquina, we have Paula.” 

Why were they contacting him? What was the point of contacting _him?_

“Excuse me?” He stuttered out. He was surprised and really really confused. Why him? Yes, he knew Paula, but not that good. They hardly had any sort of relationship. It didn’t make sense… and he hated it when it didn’t make sense. 

“You’re a smart man. Just think and you know where we are. If you think it’s a good idea to contact the police, we’ll kill her.”   
It. Didn’t. Make. Sense.

“I- Uh- How do I know you’re not lying?” 

They hung up.

He slumped down in his office chair. What just happened? Why him? Why would they contact him? 

Somebody was out there that wanted something from him, that was clear. But why Paula? That was like the dumbest move in history. No, they didn’t want something from him, he realized. 

They wanted something from Raquel and they probably thought he was, with Paula, the best way to achieve it.

But it didn’t make sense. Even that possible explanation didn’t make sense. 

The world around him started to turn. His head felt like it was going to explode. Too much. It was all too much. Too much had happened, too much was going on.

He combed his hair with his fingers. He wanted to scream. Just scream as loud as he could. But, he reminded himself, he was still in school. He needed to keep himself together.

Breathe in, breathe out. How hard could it be?

_“Sergio, calm down,” his father whispered to him, holding the boy close._

_“It hurts,” the little boy cried in his father’s shirt. There was too much going on in his head. The father kneeled down, looking the boy in the eyes._

_“I always write everything down. Trust me, that helps.” The boy sniffed, slowly nodding, understanding that he had to write everything down. “Write it down.” The father gave a kiss on his head and gone was the boy._

“Write it down,” he said, remembering what his father once told him. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote everything down. Absolutely everything.

From the moment Paula cried in the classroom to that weird phone call. Everything he felt, everything he thought and everyone involved.

And it still didn’t make sense. 

At least his head felt lighter now. He didn’t want to scream anymore. Without another thought he grabbed his paper, his bag and made his way out of the school. He was done with this. It was going to stop that day, he was sure of it. Paula was going to be found that same day.  
But that did meant he was going to think about it really really good for the next few hours. He was a smart man, he was going to figure it, he was sure of it.

With a determined look he got into his car. Like always, he was way ahead on the police. This was his comfort zone, he could do this. 

Yeah, he could do this. Besides, didn’t the kidnappers want him to find her. Oddly enough, the kidnappers had put a lot of trust in him. Their whole plan could fail if he didn’t find the place.

This was definitely weird. 

He could be walking into a trap, he suddenly thought as he parked his car in the garage. It would be worth it, though, he realized. He would walk into a trap for Paula.

He needed to leave some evidence or clues behind with where he was. Otherwise there were just two people gone... If the kidnappers wanted something from Raquel, though, then they would let Sergio walk into a trap, trust that he left some clues for Raquel to find and then catch Raquel without too much attention. 

That could be it and Sergio was almost positive that that was indeed the kidnappers plan, but there was still this slight chance it wasn’t. He didn’t want to take that chance and ignore the call. 

He walked into his apartment, dropping his bag at the doorway and kicking his shoes off. He let the paper fall down on the table as he leaned on it. While all this was happening he still needed to find a way to contact Palermo. His brother was still getting tortured every day.

He thought about the kidnappers words. _Just think and you know where we are._ How hard could that be? It was obviously somewhere he would think off, but not immediately. One that made sense, but also didn’t.

Okay, he had written everything down and he was still nowhere closer. He was absolutely lost with where she could be. Like he was just walking in a dark room searching for the light switch. 

And Paula was just scared and alone, still hoping someone would find her. Where was she?

Maybe a break would help. Just a little one. A nap could also do the trick. It would definitely help him relax.

Oh, a nap sounded great. He yawned at the thought, shrugging off his jacket. He loosened his tie as he stumbled towards the bedroom. Maybe the place would just pop in his head. He knew that he was missing something, but he wasn’t just sure what.

He fell down on his bed, suddenly exhausted. Even though he got a pretty good night of sleep next to Raquel, he was completely drained. He closed his eyes as he let himself think about her.

The pillow still smelled like her.

With a smile on his face, he fell asleep, Berlin, Paula and Palermo pushed to the back of his mind.

The shrill of the bell woke him up. He groaned, for a second not even knowing where he was or what day it was. That had been one hell of a nap. He glanced at the clock. It was already 11 p.m. Dammit, he hadn’t even eaten anything.

Immediately annoyed, he pushed himself off of the bed. Forgetting his glasses on the bed, he walked over to the door. He yawned as he opened the door.

“Did I wake you up?” Raquel chuckled. She sounded amused but sad at the same time. He tried focussing his eyes on her, but it was all really blurry. He had glasses for a reason. Not knowing what was going on, he just set a step aside, letting her enter his apartment.

“I’m just gonna grab my glasses,” he said, really wanting to see her right now. She hummed. He walked past the table, seeing the piece of paper filled with details. Shit, Raquel could’ve seen that. He discreetly grabbed it and made his way towards the bedroom. 

He sighed in relief. He wouldn’t even know what to say if she saw that. With his glasses back on his nose, he walked back to the kitchen. And oh how he was glad he decided to grab his glasses. Raquel was silently crying on his kitchen table.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He rushed towards her, immediately worried. She looked at him, her eyes wet and red. He decided it was best to not touch her, she didn’t look she wanted that. Sergio immediately thought about all the things that could’ve happened. Did they have news about Paula?

“I’m so sorry I keep coming to you with all my problems-” she was speaking so fast. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Unwillingly thinking about that morning. 

“It’s alright, Raquel. What happened?” Her eyes slowly went to his hand and then back to his face. There was this look in her eyes that made his mouth go dry. There was this- tension between them. He swallowed loudly.

“Sergio?” She whispered, her voice rough. The whole crying deal from just a minute ago, was forgotten. He nodded slowly, unconsciously stepping a bit closer. She stood up straighter, keeping eye contact with.

All he could think about was how beautiful she looked.

His hand slipped off her shoulder as she stepped closer. He could already feel the warmth radiating off of her. 

“Help me forget,” She whispered, still leaning closer and closer. He glanced at her lips and then back up at her. There was nobody to interrupt them this time. For a second he thought about what she was saying, but then it became too much. With his hands suddenly on her hips, he pulled her closer, connecting their lips in a surprisingly slow kiss. 

His brain shut down as she pulled him even closer, putting more heat behind it. He couldn’t think as he scooped her up, her legs immediately wrapping around his waist. He let her back hit the wall carefully.

They parted, staring at each other for a second, before kissing the other again, harder, faster. Her hand disappeared in his hair while his lips found her neck. He went on auto mode, not sure what to think or do. Never had a simple kiss made him feel all these different things. It was addictive and just so good. He never wanted it to stop, so he kept going.

His lips found hers again. 

“Bed?” She whispered against his lips. He breathed out a shaky breath before nodding, kissing her again. She unwrapped her legs, standing back on her own two feet. She grabbed her hand, leading him towards his own bedroom without another word.

It was Raquel who pushed him on the bed, undressing him slowly. He couldn’t help but question if this was heaven.

_He looked at the money that was being printed through the cameras. The hostages were under control. There was no drama, no issues. Everything went exactly the way how he wanted it to happen. He couldn’t help but question if this was heaven._

He gasped, realization setting in. Raquel looked up at him, that wasn’t a good. He slowly sat up, his blouse already fully unbuttoned and his tie nowhere to be found. She sat down on his lap, confusion written all over her face.

“Sergio? What’s wrong?” 

He knew exactly where Paula was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo- what did you think? I can't promise I'll upload tomorrow, but I'll try. Bye bye xx


	13. Lower your gun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm feeling a bit better again and damn the moment I began to write, I couldn't stop. So here is an almost 3000 word chapter for you guys! Hope you enjoy and sorry for the grammar mistakes.

“I need to go,” he said, his face suddenly all serious. He ignored the raging boner he had as Raquel got off of him. She sat defeated on the bed, not knowing what was happening. Neither did Sergio, but he just went along with his feeling.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true either… His feeling said to devour Raquel on the bed, but he knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. Wait- she didn’t know...

Fuck, this looked probably really bad. This was her daughter, though. She would understand once he got back. 

It was a shame though that as he kissed her passionately one last time, he knew he wasn’t coming back.

“Where are you going?” She asked, understanding that if it wasn’t important, he wouldn’t be leaving. Especially not after the kiss he just gave her. 

“I’ll be back,” he said, buttoning up his shirt. He looked intensely at her, not knowing what was going through her head right now. His whole body screamed to stay, yet he didn’t. Sadly, she didn’t seem convinced at him returning. “I promise,” He added for good measure. Unfortunately it was a false promise.

Knowing who kidnapped Paula, he knew he might never see Raquel ever again. Nor would she ever want to talk to him.

She nodded slowly, finally relaxing. 

Before he could regret his decision, he was gone. He almost fell down the stairs as he rushed towards the garage. Now knowing where Paula was, he knew it wasn’t about life or death, but he still wanted her to be back home as soon as possible. Time was money, and in this case, he didn’t have enough time.

Finally in the car he thought about how he could’ve been having sex with Raquel, but he wasn’t. Instead he was going to be very very mad at some people. What a great way to spend your evening.

He knew he could be wrong. That he was just driving towards the wrong place. This was the only explanation that made sense, though. A place that he wouldn’t think of right away, but when he would, everything would fall in place.

And that just rested on how stupid the kidnapper was. Oh they were so incredibly stupid.

His mind kept going back to that beautiful woman who was just mere minutes ago laying on top of him. That indicated that she wanted him, right? Raquel Murillo wanted him just as badly as he wanted her. 

A smile crept unconsciously on his face. He felt giddy, completely over the moon. Even while he was driving towards a girl who got kidnapped, he couldn’t help but giggle like a love-struck teenager. 

Raquel pushed him out of his comfort-zone, in a good way, and made him feel things he probably shouldn’t. Especially not now with the whole Alberto thing. They should’ve waited until he was completely behind bars and even then a few months should’ve passed first.

He thought about it and came to the conclusion that that was actually bullshit. Why should they wait if they were both ready? If Raquel was sure she was ready for, well, him, why should they wait? Until it was socially accepted? Why? Because that felt like a load of bullshit.

Not that he was sure if Raquel was really ready- no, stop with that sentence. You don’t kiss like _that_ when you’re not ready. He bit his lip, thinking about her hands all over his body while he pressured the gas pedal. Besides, he realized, after this, she never wanted to kiss him ever again.

Even though he still felt giddy from the kissing, he couldn’t help but feel that he was doomed. That no matter what he chose, he would lose in some kind of way. This was exactly why he left. He didn’t want to choose. 

He didn’t want to lose Raquel…

Anyway, he cleared his throat. Apparently it wasn’t meant to be, he let himself believe. He increased speed and not long after he arrived.

It was pitch black outside, the wind fast and cold. Looking at the big house, memories flooded in. He inhaled the fresh air for a second. It smelled great so late outside. The house was a bit spooky, but he knew it like the back of his hand, so he walked towards the big doors.

He pushed them open, not surprised to find them unlocked. They were probably waiting for him. But as he walked further into the dark house, barely seeing anything, he realized that maybe he had been wrong. His heart sank as he walked through the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, there was nobody.

Nobody. Not Paula nor his team.

Maybe he had judged them too soon. Of course they weren’t that stupid to kidnap Paula. He sighed in his hands. To say he felt bad, was an understatement. Not only had he left Raquel to search somewhere Paula didn’t even was, he had doubted his teams intelligence.

With heavy steps, he made his way towards the door, his head hung low. This was the only place he could think of that made sense, the old hiding house. They stayed here for more than five months preparing for the Royal Mint heist.

There was loud laughter from upstairs.

His feet stopped moving. 

More laughs.   
He wasn’t sure if he should be glad or disappointed, because this did mean they probably had Paula, but that also meant he found them. Either way, without much thinking he sprinted the stairs up, following the laughter.

He came closer and closer to his old classroom and his brows furrowed in anger as he saw the light was on. With a loud swing he pushed the door open.

The laughter stopped immediately, every head in the room looking towards the Professor.

Helsinki, Nairobi, Tokyo, Rio, Denver, Stockholm… and the little teenage girl tied up on a chair.

Sergio tilted his head as he looked at Paula. She didn’t look- scared? Why didn’t she? She had no idea where she was, with who she was or when she was leaving. Why wouldn’t she be scared? She was even tied up! 

He scanned the room, seeing the Dali masks.

“Wait-” Paula said before anyone else could say anything. “you’re the Professor? You’re the mastermind behind- behind that heist? Shit…” she dragged the last word out, her voice full of disbelief. “My history teacher is _the_ Professor. My mom is gonna hate you.” 

Yeah, he was totally aware of that. How should he even react to this? This was the last thing he expected. Everyone was just watching with amusement in her eyes. He chose to ignore her for this moment, not sure what to even do with her.

“Who’s idea was this?” He said, remembering why he was so incredibly mad. There was a voice behind him.

“Ah! Our dear Sergio decided to join us? Finally.” Palermo patted him on the shoulder before walking past him, coming way too close. “It was my idea, actually,” he said as he walked over the little girl.

“Are you stupid?” Was all that Sergio could say, really. Not that there was much more to say. No, nevermind, there was a lot to say about this. Palermo looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t see how. This is obviously your favorite student. We had to kidnap someone who you cared about and your girlfriend was not going to happen.” Paula giggled at this, looking between Palermo and Sergio, obviously entertained. So were the rest. “So we kidnapped her daughter.”

“Raquel isn’t my girlfriend.” Palermo turned towards him. Clearly, Sergio was in denial about that part. “Did you know she is a cop? And so is her father? And Paula is going to talk! You know it just as good as I do. This is only attracting more attention. Never kidnap a child, or did Berlin never tell you that?”  
That hit a nerve. Palermo shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable now. 

“Oh didn’t she tell you that?” Sergio stepped closer, absolutely fed up with Palermo.

He could’ve been having sex right now.

“Didn’t she mention that her mother is one of the respected cops in the precinct? And so was her father. From all the kids you could’ve kidnapped, this was the dumbest to.” 

“But it got you here,” Tokyo defended, not wanting to admit to make this huge mistake.

“I was already in!” He exclaimed. That made them silent. They didn’t look at the Professor, not even one of them, finally all realizing how stupid this was. They had obviously acted with their hearts, not mind. If they had stopped to think for three whole seconds, they wouldn’t have done it. Maybe even research Paula and her family first.

Hadn’t they learned? 

“I won’t say anything, mr. Marquina. I just wanna go home,” Paula suddenly said. Ah, so it had been an act. She missed her mother. His heart sank as he saw her shed a tear. It glinstered in the light. He swallowed, immediately thinking about not even weeks ago. 

“I know.” He walked over to her, already reaching for the rope that was holding her hands together. Palermo stepped towards them, ready to object, but Sergio’s look said it all. 

“What was your plan?” Sergio asked, obviously asking for what they were planning on doing with Paula. Palermo looked away, not wanting to admit that they didn’t have one. Stockholm rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. 

“We don’t have one,” she admitted softly.

Paula stayed calmly in her chair as tears ran down her cheek. Now that there was somebody she knew, she started to realize how much she had actually missed her mom. “I wanna go home, I promise I won’t tell anyone.” 

Yes and he had promised to return to Raquel, but that wasn’t happening either now huh?

“Paula, you’re a smart girl. You know I can’t just let you go.” He said it with so much pain. He wished he could nod and just let her go. He wished he could take her to her mom and tell her that everything was going to be just fine. But life doesn’t always go the way you want to, he told himself.

“We have to keep her for now,” Nairobi said. It wasn’t a surprise, everybody was thinking that, even Paula herself. The sixteen year old nodded slowly, looking down. Sergio sighed. Why was everything going so epicly wrong? Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. 

Was this some kind of curse?

“I’ll figure something out,” Sergio said, not even sure if he could. Was there even an option here? “But for now, you stay here,” he spoke towards Paula. Her big eyes looked up at him.

He couldn’t help but see Raquel in them.

“Somebody has to keep guard at all times.” Paula could promise all she wants that she won’t escape, but Sergio that the moment she was left alone, she would be gone. He looked at the team. Good, they looked embarrassed. They should be. 

Maybe he had fucked up with his brother. But they fucked up with a fucking child. Not that this was a competition, but they won with the worst mistake. 

“You staying here?” Nairobi asked. Even though it was under these stupid conditions, she was glad to have the Professor back on the team. He sighed and shook his head, thinking about Raquel. She was still waiting for him.

Maybe it hadn’t been a lie. Maybe he would be back, even if it was just for the night. Then he would disappear. There was a mix of happy and sad in his stomach. At least one night was more than he could ever hope for.

“No, there’s someone waiting for me,” he said, not even thinking about it. He may or may not just have admitted that there was a someone to the people who will forever tease him with it. Before anyone could say anything, he was already talking. “Anyway, I gotta go. Will be back tomorrow with- I don’t know, me.” 

Was it smart to leave Paula behind, probably not. Was it ever dumber to not go back to Raquel? Probably yeah. He was already in the doorway when Paula’s voice stopped him.

“Is it my mom?” He turned around, biting his lip. Should he tell her the truth? It was her mom… but the whole gang was there. Palermo looked at him with a teasing smile. 

He better wipes that stupid smirk off his face before I remind him of his mistake, he thought to himself. 

“So it’s a woman? You aren’t gay?” Rio joked, trying to get rid of the tense atmosphere. Sergio frowned, why did he ever think that? He opened his mouth to say goodbye when he felt something on the back of his neck.

His heart stopped. A gun. He knew exactly who this was. There was no other explanation.

Within not more than a few seconds had Tokyo and Palermo their weapons pointed at the person behind him.

“Lower your weapons,” Sergio’s voice was suddenly a lot lower and very steady for someone who was being held at gunpoint. But he was nervous as fuck. Deep down he knew she would never shoot, so it felt as if he had to tell Tokyo and Palermo to lower their weapons.

“Walk forward.” On the contrary of his steady voice, was hers very shaky. His hands were shaking as he slowly held them up. Step by step he slowly moved forward, the gun never leaving his neck. He looked straight forward, his face completely blank as his emotions washed away.

He could forget that one last night.

“Mom,” Paula whispered, not sure what to say or do. Sergio just knew for sure Raquel was looking at her daughter now, mouthing something, tears shining in her eyes. He also knew he hurt her.

“Turn around.” Her voice was even shakier than before and that worried Sergio. She was a trained cop. This shouldn’t even make her nervous in the slightest. He slowly turned around, coming eye to eye with Raquel.

The woman he was kissing not even hours ago. The woman that was kissing him, undressing him, wanting him, was now holding a gun up to his head. Well, wasn’t this just fucked up.

“Are you the Professor?” She asked, needing the truth. But he knew she wasn’t asking that. She was asking if he had used her. Everything in the room screamed Professor. His team behind him, with confused and worried faces, the dali masks in the cabins, the school tables, the board. He nodded slowly.

The gun almost fell out of her hand. 

“W-Was it you idea to kidnap my daughter?” He shook his head. Everything in her eyes screamed that she didn’t believe it. They were filled with tears and a pure look of betrayal. Sergio had always been sure that he knew what pain was, especially after hearing Berlin wasn’t coming back, but seeing Raquels tear filled eyes, holding him at gunpoint, he doubted every decision he ever made.

“Please lower the gun,” he whispered. Please remember that it was you who kissed me first, he wanted to add, but didn’t. She shook her head, her finger on the trigger. In the corner of his eyes he saw Tokyo’s gun raising. “I said lower the gun, Tokyo.” His voice was loud and hard, but Raquel didn’t even flinch.

“City names,” she whispered, looking at the team. “Helsinki, Nairobi, Tokyo, Rio, Denver- weren’t you one of the hostages? Who are you?” Monica nodded slowly. Never had Sergio seen them so quiet.

“Palermo. I would say nice to meet you but you’re holding an important part of the plan at gunpoint.”

Why was it so hard for Palermo to shut his mouth?

“What plan?” She looked at Paula, then back at Sergio. “What plan?” She asked again after nobody responded. Not even Paula said anything, she just stayed on her chair. Nobody even dared to move, scared that the Professor would be shot. She pressed the gun further into his forehead.

“What plan?” She asked him again.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, keeping eye contact. He hated how she still had his heart even while she held him at gunpoint and was probably planning his funeral by now. She frowned, almost completely losing it. “I’m so sorry, Raquel.” 

Before she could react, he grabbed the gun with his right hand, turned her around, dropped the gun, and pushed on her neck, making her unconscious. 

“Mom!” Paula runned from her chair, but Tokyo grabbed her arm, holding her, not letting her go. 

He felt numb as he looked up, slowly dropping Raquel on the floor. 

“Tie them up,” he demanded. “I’m gonna burn everything I own.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know what you think, I'm very curious. Also, I wrote everything down with what I wanted to happen, and there are gonna be a lot of chapters and we're back at the slow burn and there will be chapters with Paula and Sergio and with everyone and I hope it's gonna be amazing. Also, one of the reasons i'm making this story so long is because i wanna learn how to write long stories while keeping it interesting from begin to end. Anyway, hopefully I upload tomorrow. See ya!


	14. happy together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello :)) i dont have much to say except enjoy and my sincere apologies for the grammar mistakes and sentences that makes you barf

When he said he was going to burn everything he owned, he wasn’t lying. Back at his apartment, he was equipped with lots of plastic bags, bleach and gloves. Every personal thing he had, he dumped in a bag. Not that it were a lot, but still. 

The plan included him revealing his identity, so he already knew that this was unnecessary. The police would find his apartment in no time and as long as he just makes sure that there was nothing that could led them to him, there was nothing wrong.

The only reason he was still scrubbing the bathroom sink like a lunatic was simple. He just couldn’t go back to the house, knowing Raquel was awake by now. What must she think of him? He kept thinking about that last kiss, the one that completely took away his breath. 

It wasn’t really a surprise that he wanted to go back to that moment. He knew he made the right decision, he would’ve felt bad otherwise. But imagine he hadn’t left. The scrubbing stopped slowly as he looked at himself in the mirror. Rough didn’t even came close to describing him. 

His beard was wild, his hair all over the place and he looked like he hadn’t slept in three days. Even his glasses were slightly tilted to the right. His tie had been long untied and laid probably somewhere in his car, the right side of his blouse untucked and the first few buttons undone.

Maybe at another moment, he would’ve looked devilishly handsome, or hot, like some might say. But not that day, the emotion in his eyes changed it all, or more specific, the lack off. He felt numb, nothing except regret and pain, yet he pushed that away. He rather didn’t want to feel anything at all.

It was weak, he decided. “You’re weak,” he whispered towards his own reflection, disgust slowly taking over his face. He was the professor. He was the one that had done it, directed every one. There were so many people out there who agreed with his team, with those Dali masks. 

It might’ve looked like it had been just a hard heist, but it had set so much more in motion. From people finally disagreeing with the government to major protests in the center of Madrid. It had been much much much more than a heist. He had done that, with help of course, but he had done that.

And now? Now he had lost himself. Only four years had gone by, but little by little he felt himself slipping away. He had ignored all the popularity the heist had gotten the months and even years after, but now he simply couldn’t. He was back in the game and, like he had said many years ago, there was no place for personal relationships.

Maybe it was wrong, but he had no other choice then to forget about Raquel. She hated him, he was sure of that, he had to ignore his feelings for her. This heist was going to be harder and he was going to involve the people a lot more.

If there was one thing he had learned from the last one, then it was that as long as you have the people on your side, you’re safe. And this plan focused on that.

The police was torturing his brother. This was war.

With his beard freshly trimmed and his belongings burned somewhere way out of city, he walked back into the house. He had changed into simple suit pants with a pearl white blouse tucked in it, his sleeves rolled up and top two buttons undone. Even though he still looked tired, he had this aura around him that simply meant business. 

Stockholm was making lunch with Nairobi when he walked into the kitchen.

“Wow, Professor,” Nairobi whistled, looking him up and down. “Wish I was the one kissing you.” Maybe four years ago he would’ve acted all embarrassed and uncomfortable, but frankly, he couldn’t care any less. He gave her a simple look.

“Where’s Palermo?” 

He was here for business and his brother, nothing else. No friends, no personal relationships. He might’ve disobeyed that rule the last heist, attaching himself to the group, but not anymore. Not this time.

“Upstairs, probably with Paula and the mom,” Stockholm answered after Nairobi stayed silent, looking butthurt. He not only should be distant, he had the right to be distant. Remember when they kidnapped Paula for not one legitimately good reason and fucked his and Raquels relationship even more up?

Yeah, that was fun.

Without another word, he walked away from them. Two steps at a time he walked up the stairs, strolling into the classroom like he owned the place. Oh wait, he did own the place. 

“Why not tell me your name? I really don’t see the issu- oh, hey Sergio.” Palermo glanced over his shoulder before looking back at the two women sitting tied up in front of him. He was sitting casually on one of the school tables with Raquel and Paula on the chairs in front of him. 

“It’s Professor you ass,” he commented, walking towards him. Okay so maybe he did promise himself to push all his feelings for Raquel away, but he’d be lying if it didn’t hurt that Raquel couldn’t even look at him.

“Yeah, not until you saved Berlin, your own brother.” Palermo wasn’t stupid, he was spilling some of the plan on purpose to them. The look in his eyes only confirmed that. 

“We gotta talk.” Sergio just stood there a bit awkward, not looking at the two, trying to pretend they weren’t there at all. Palermo laughed and nodded at the threat in his voice. 

“I'll figure out your name,” he said, pointing at Raquel. She stared at him, no emotion showing. “But for now, bye ladies.” Palermo was already walking away. 

Sergio couldn’t help but look at the two. Paula was very obvious freaking out, panic in her eyes and moving anxiously while Raquel just remained calm, nothing in her eyes showing. They made eye contact and for a split second he wanted to pick her up and run away with her until they were happy together.

But then he sighed and combed his hair through with his fingers. He had to let go. How hard could it be? 

He walked out of the classroom, already knowing where Palermo went. He opened the door and, well, he was right. Of course Palermo slept in his old room. With a bottle of whiskey in his hands, he sat on a chair in the corner.

“It’s not even 12 p.m.,” Sergio said slightly disgusted. He carefully sat down on the bed, not wanting to get any germs from him.

“It’s happy hour somewhere,” he quipped back sassy, taking a big sip from the bottle. As response he just rolled his eyes. Palermo and he had never been… well friends. But he was Berlin’s best friend and they had to work together. Fighting was no option in this situation.

They could go back to that when they had Berlin back.

“So, how are we gonna do this?” Palermo asked. Two years before the first heist Andres had called him. They met up, he even met Palermo back then. Apparently the both of them had made a plan together and wanted to talk with Sergio about it.

Even though it never had been his plan originally, he studied it, improved it heavily and remembered everything ‘till the last detail. 

“How much do you remember? Everything?” Palermo nodded.

“Like it was yesterday.” Yet, Andres wasn’t with them now. 

“Well, there were some problems, so I made a few changes here and there, but most of it is the same.” Palermo nodded slowly, seeing the whole heist already in his head.

“So you’re in? Like 100%?” He had to know for sure. Palermo didn’t know what to do else. Sergio nodded. “Good, ‘cause I don’t know what to do without you,” he admitted, but immediately gave him a look that told him not to tell anyone that he said that. 

Sergio snorted not so sexy. Even though Palermo disgusted him, he loved him in a weird brotherly way.

“Oh, because we need a good way to get into the bank, I changed the beginning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed :))) Where im going with this fic is gonna be very fun if i say so myself ;) bye x


	15. Ruthless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost two days late? Or three? Idk. Maybe... but i have decided that even though i'll still try to upload every day, that i won't rush out a chapter if I haven't finished it yet. Look, i'm not completely satisfied with all, but i'm still young, i'm still trying to improve. Anyway, hope y'all had a few nice days and that nobody has forgotten this fic. Enjoy and watch out for the scary grammar mistakes and sentences that will haunt me in my sleep.

“Mom?” Paula whispered a while after Sergio and Palermo left the room. Raquel looked at her daughter, tears shining in her eyes. 

“Yes honey?” 

“Do you think we’ll ever go home?” 

Raquel raised her shoulders, not sure if they ever would.

“I don’t wanna go home,” Raquel whispered. Paula frowned confused, looking up at her mother. Why not? Her mother looked away, but the tear that rolled over her cheek didn’t go unnoticed. “They ‘accidentally’ lost the evidence I had against your father. It’s our word against his.” 

Paula kept her mouth shut, not even knowing what to think, forget what to say. The police force _never_ just lose evidence. Both women knew that there had been some sort of curroption. The thought that her father could go free, disgusted her.

“Anyway.” She cleared her throat, not wanting to think about her father. They had worse problems going on. “We’re kinda lucky.” Her mother gave her a confused look. They were literally tied to two chairs. Lucky wasn’t exactly what Raquel would call this situation.

“Well, mr. Marquina has a thing for you. He would never hurt you, so he would never hurt me. And I’m a child so that’s a thing to-” 

“He doesn’t have a thing for me,” Raquel interrupted rudely. It was funnt how she couldn’t even convince herself. 

“Oh come on mom, don’t lie to yourself. Our escape is going to be wonderful. You’re just gonna seduce mr. Marquina and then little by little he’ll trust us and then- boom! We’ll run.” 

To be completely honest, Paula didn’t mean anything of what she had just saidt. She actually thought this was epic. Kidnapped by one of the most popular gangs in all time? And the mastermind behind it was your history teacher? Could it get any better than this? She missed Barbara, but that was about it. This was way more exciting.

But Raquel didn’t know that, nor would she ever wanted to believe her daughter was interested in these kinds of things.

“I won’t do that.”

“Why not?” She immediately responded, as if the words were locked and loaded, ready to be fired. After years of police academy, Raquel had to be stupid to not pick that up.

“Because it’s heartless and ruthless.” Actually, in this context it wasn’t. Kidnapping your daughter and then holding you and her both hostage with no hope of ever stepping foot outside again was ruthless and heartless. It could be worse, it always could be worse, but that's beside the point. 

Paula didn’t say anything, trying to hide her smirk. So she had been right, definitely not surprised, though. 

“What?” Raquel asked, suspicious of what was going on. Since when was her innocent sixteen year old trying to hide something from her own mom?

“Nothing,” Paula said casually while looking away, not even trying to hide it anymore.

“You’re hiding something.” Paula snorted. Her mother sounded so serious, it was hilarious. In her eyes, this was all quite humorous.

“You wouldn’t be faking it,” was all she said, leaving the inspector confused for a second. 

The door opened again, revealing a Palermo and Professor in an argument, not even aknowledging the two women. 

“I don’t care what you think, the moment he’s back, he’s in charge.” 

Wait- did Paula meant- wait… what?

“But why?” 

Why would she even say that?

“Because I trust him more than you.” 

Raquel looked up at the arguing Professor. His hair fell down his forehead. With one smooth move, he combed it back with his fingers, making it only worse. He pushed his glasses back on his nose, annoyed saying something towards the Palermo guy. The words drowned towards the background as she fixed her eyes on his lips. They were moving just so- gracefully. She moved her eyes down towards his body, his quite muscular body. She would know, she felt it. But no matter how hot his body was, she couldn’t help but be pulled towards his eyes. Those pure and innocent eyes that hid behind those glasses.

Those pure and innocent eyes that were now looking at her.

In the speed of lightning flashes of their night flew by. He touching her, she touching him, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss, and not one, but a lot more than just one. 

“Mom?” 

Fuck. Paula was right. It didn’t matter at all what Sergio had done and hadn’t done. She couldn’t care less. All she could think about was him and the warm feeling of rush and safety he gave her.

She pushed the feeling away.

“Miss Murillo? Are you alright?” Sergio was the one to actually snap her out of his trance. His worry filled eyes looking at her, his brows slightly furrowed. For the first time since she woke up, she spoke directly towards him.

“Actually, I could use some water.” Sergio stared at her for maybe a bit too long. The look in his eyes made her swoon all over again. What was he even trying to accomplish? He nodded and almost ran out of the room before there could be anything said. Palermo looked after him with a raised eyebrow before slowly turning his head towards Raquel, a smirk slowly framing his mouth.

“I’ve never seen him like,” he stopped, searching for the right words, “well this. And I’ve known him for a while.” 

“Who’s Berlin?” Paula asked not at all interested in Palermo’s chatter. She was just too curious of who this mystery man was they kept talking about all the time. The Professor obviously trusted him the most of them all. But so did Palermo. The others didn’t get so hot at the mention of the man, but still wanted to help him. So he had probably done something where they owed him something. 

One thing that was most important was that Palermo and the Professor absolutely hated each other. In a way that not family would hate each other, though. So they weren’t family, but that didn’t mean Berlin could be family of Palermo or Professor.

Was Berlin even a woman or man? Difficult questions.

“Why do you wanna know?” Palermo questioned. There was no hate or suspicious behind it, just curiosity. It made her feel oddly safe. As if he would never ever hurt her, nor touch her.

“Can I do a guess?” Paula asked, sitting straight up. Or, well, at least how much space she had to do that. Palermo leaned slightly back, clearly amused by the little girl. Raquel just watched her daughter in awe. She was so… not scared. 

“Of course, amuse me, little girl.” She narrowed her eyes at little girl. She replayed everything that was said about Berlin in her head, every body gesture that went with it, every facial expression that paired up with it. 

“Berlin is your best friend and mr. Marquina’s sibling. The others actually don’t care that much, but he did do something heroic. Or you guys have some weird family bond and loved the thrill of the last heist, but that seems more like a underlying reason.” 

Sergio coughed his throat in the doorway, holding two glasses water while staring at her. Palermo looked absolutely speechless at her, just like her mother did too. 

“So you’re smart smart?” Palermo suddenly said, tilting his head to the right. “Reminds me of something.” He cast a glance over his shoulder towards the Professor who rushed over to them. 

“Berlin is my brother. We all thought he died, but apparently he’s being tortured for four years now.” He sat the two glasses down on one of the tables. “Please just- don’t try anything,” he said while he walked behind Raquel.

Wait- he was actually doing this? 

She glanced confused at her daughter who just looked teasingly at her. Raquel stayed in her seat as the ropes fell to the ground. Sergio stepped back, holding his hands up like she was a dangerous animal. 

“I’m not gonna bite you.” 

“Maybe later,” Paula mumbled. Palermo snorted and for just a moment it looked like everything was alright. 

But just for a moment, because Tokyo came waltzing in with not so good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I would like to know what you think of this, but if u dont wanna share thats completely fine. See y'all tomorrow (or the day after that, who knows ;))


	16. wuss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) uhmmm dont have much to say so enjoy and correct my grammar if necessary please :)

“They think you did it,” she rushed out, her eyes big and nervous. The Professor frowned. 

“What are you talking about?” 

Raquel took a sip of her water, sitting on the edge of her chair.

Tokyo folded the newspaper in her hands open, reading the front page out loud. “Sergio Marquina new suspect for the kidnapping of a police officer and her daughter.” 

“Where did you get that from? Did anyone see you? Are you traceable back to here? You took the phones far away right?” He immediately asked in a rant. Getting one newspaper could mean the end of the heist that hadn’t even begun yet. They had to be careful with every step they made.

Tokyo scoffed. “Of course nobody saw me. And I took care of their phones, don’t worry. They won’t know they are here.” 

“What did you do to our phones?” Raquel asked, but the three robbers ignored her. 

Tokyo decided it was best to not mention what she did with her car. 

“Anyway, I’ve thought of a way to get them out of here.” Well, that certainly caught the hostages attention. There came a filthy smirk on Tokyo’s face. One that Sergio had seen way too often. She was planning something and it wasn’t kid-friendly.

“No.”

“You haven’t even he-”

“No.” There was in no universe he was ever going to hurt Paula nor Raquel. His posture remained calm as he looked Tokyo strictly in the eye. Her face said thunder and it wasn’t pretty. 

But something in Tokyo snapped. Something she was holding back for a while now and it definitely wasn’t nice. 

“You changed, ya know, you’re not the same Professor I know anymore.” While he tried keep his face stoic, his mind started to scream. “Four years ago you would’ve at least listened. Guess teaching makes you a wuss huh?” 

He closed his fists.

Palermo blew out a low ‘ooooh’ while Raquel and Paula were watching with big eyes. Tokyo definitely had some nerves to come at the Professor like that. No matter how big the grudge she had against him was, this was uncalled for. Was it though?

“Just admit it Professor, you’re a wuss. A pretty woman and a child,” her voice was venomely painful to listen to, low and toxic, “are apparently enough to,” she paused, coming closer, “make,” she definitely liked drama, “you,” she poked her finger into his chest, “a,” she came closer, keeping eye contact as the Professor didn’t even breathe, “wuss.” Her breath hit his face as his nose twitched.

The only thing on Raquel’s mind was if he was going to let her act like that. And she was goddamn afraid he wouldn’t. Sergio was quite the withholding type, but once you got on his nerves, it was over for you. Such a shame Tokyo didn’t realize this sooner.

Even Palermo was scared the Professor was going to hurt Tokyo. 

They should’ve seen it coming, though. The Professor wouldn’t hurt a fly, not until someone was dead. Sergio had the ability to do something much scarier. Tokyo expected him to get mad, yell at her, maybe even hit her in the heat of the moment. She had anticipated it all.

What she hadn’t anticipated was how calm Sergio remained.

He slowly grabbed her wrist, moving her pointed finger away, keeping eye contact in a way that made her legs shake with fear. The look in his eyes was straight up terrifying. The power he had was immaculate. He could hurt her, make her cry, let her shake of fear, but he chose not to. He could do everything he wanted, he knew so much about her. One little sentence and he could break her heart, expose her in front of these people. 

But he consciously decided not to. And that demanded so much self-control. Tokyo didn’t even dare to dream she could ever have that kind of self-control.

He slowly stood up, towering over a petite woman like Tokyo with no problem. She was strong and confident, but looking up at the Professor, she couldn’t help but feel like a child. She swallowed loudly and even in the dead silent room could Paula hear it. 

“Never call me a wuss again, Silene.” His voice was a soft whisper but echoed through the room. “Whatever your plan was, you know it wasn’t morally correct.” He paused, this time just for the dramatic effect. He knew exactly what he was doing, what effect he had, and didn’t regret it for a single second. “Now, make sure you tie Raquel up so she won’t escape. Meanwhile I’ll be figuring out how to get them out of here. You understand that?” 

She opened her mouth to say a yes, but nothing came out, so she just nodded instead.   
He finally let the strong grip on her wrist go as he made an exist none of them would ever forget.

With tense shoulders he walked through the hallways, almost bumping into Denver. 

“Woah there Prof, you alright?” He furrowed his brows in worry. Sergio looked quite out of it, as if he just got some horrible news and still needed to process it. 

“I’m fine,” he said shortly, proceeding his walk towards his destination. Everything about him said to not follow. For once, Denver was smart and thought it would be best to leave an angry or confused Professor alone, he wasn’t sure what it was. 

With big steps he walked into the storage room. He grabbed the ladder with such a force he almost fell backwards and practically threw it against the wall. His facade was falling apart. Everything was falling apart in his head. He didn’t even double check if the ladder was steady before climbing up, removing the tile on the ceiling. 

He pulled himself up, into a small space that always made him slightly nervous. He crawled a few metres away from the hole, his hands moving along the roof, carefully pushing to find the opening. It was almost stupid to think the Professor wouldn’t have made an escape towards the roof when he bought the house almost decades ago.

He felt the little gap and pushed the part of the roof away. Did this part make the house a little drafty? Maybe it did. Did he care? Absolutely not. 

He climbed through the hole with surprisingly a lot of ease. Digging through his mind he slowly remembered where to place his feet and where not to. And he learned the latter with the hard way. The roof was made out of a multiple smaller pyramids and there was this one spot he could sit where nobody could spot him from below. It was between two pyramids and definitely not clean and pretty and always suspiciously stinky, but honestly, he didn’t care, not even a little bit.

As he sat down, his back against a side of a pyramide, he finally breathed out, trying to not scream as loud as he could. The hot sun shined on him as he closed his eyes, trying to relax.

All he could think about was how Tokyo had a point. She had a point and he couldn’t stand it. He had changed. Fours years was a lot. It didn’t matter that he still knew everything that was required to do this, it didn’t matter that he had so much memories and that with just a few days he could fall back in place. He still changed. And acting like a dick against everyone did not prove them wrong.

He felt sorry for Nairobi. So they fucked up, it didn’t matter, he still loved them. 

Personal relationships were what fucked up the last heist, suddenly popped up in his mind. Personal relationships were the problem of Berlin sacrificing himself to save Nairobi and Helsinki. Personal relationships were off limits. If acting like a dick meant that this heist would succeed, so be it.

He sighed when he heard himself think. No personal relationships huh? Was he really going to make an excuse for not wanting to hurt Raquel or Paula? Because it was ‘morally wrong’? It was wrong, he knew that. But in a situation like this, he would’ve done anything to have no hostages. 

And yet, he made an excuse for Raquel and Paula. But that was only because Paula was a minor and Raquel her mother. Nothing else. There shouldn’t be another reason. No personal relationships, right?

“Professor? Are you here?” He groaned as he opened his eyes, carefully standing up to see who it was. Monica’s big, blonde curls came from the opening in the roof. She looked at him, her eyes big and worried. Strangely enough it made him want to cry badly.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, her voice soft and cautious. It was obvious that she knew something was wrong. Somebody had send her on purpose to calm him down, he was sure of it. Stockholm was the perfect person for the job. He would get mad at everybody else, or it would’ve been a hostage.

“Just catching some air,” he said casually, his voice light and airy, as if nothing was wrong. He even added a smile with it, trying to convince her to just let him be. Stockholm wasn’t having any of it, though. She crossed her arms, carefully sitting back on her knees while looking strictly at him. It was look only a mother could give her child. His eyes avoided hers. She made him nervous and he didn’t like it. 

“Tell me the truth, Professor.” 

“The truth, Stockholm.” His voice was calm, no panic in sight. He was a good actor. This time, it wasn’t low, or threatening. It was as if he was going to tell her a little bedtime story and that made her worryingly nervous. They were seeing a lot of sides of the Professor that day.

“The truth is that I finally know why the last heist went so awfully wrong.” He didn’t dare to mention his brother. “It were the personal relationships. It always are the personal relationships. So, this time, there won’t be any.” 

“You can’t do that,” she said immediately, not thinking about how he somewhere had a point. Even if he had, he still couldn’t do that. Stockholm and Denver were married. Rio and Tokyo were still in a relationship. Nairobi and Helsinki were best friends. Palermo did this for his best friend. And let’s not forget how Professor went along with this because of his personal relationship with Berlin.

But at that moment, he didn’t see all that. He only saw Nairobi and Helsinki getting out of the hole, tears already pooling his eyes as he waited for Berlin to come out. 

“I can do whatever I want.” 

She shook her head rapidly, her curls bouncing up and down. The Professor had too much going on in his head, Stockholm noticed immediately. There were too much emotions involved and Sergio simply couldn't handle it. So he turned his world into black and white with only two things on his mind: saving Berlin and having another successful heist.

“Sergio-”

“It’s Professor.” 

“-Eat something and take a nap, maybe then you can think normally again.” 

He shook his head, refusing to believe he wasn’t thinking ‘normally’. He had never thought more normally than then. This was normal. Everything made sense. No personal relationships was what could make a heist fail or succeed and now all he saw was how it would make them win, again. 

Stockholm looked at him, before sighing loud. She went back inside, leaving the Professor behind with the terrifying feeling he disappointed her.

See, this was exactly why there shouldn’t be any personal relationships, he told himself. And with every fiber in his being he turned off his emotions as good as he could.

Little did he know that with the weeks to come, he would find out that nobody could ever turn off his emotions, no matter how much you fight it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope u liked the chapter, because i certainly did. Would die for powerful Sergio not gonna lie ;) Bye bye x


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